Ruins of Azlant IC

[farothel]

She wanted to stop Jessica before they knew about what was happening, but both Jessica and Hewitt got closer then she would have done. She was as surprised as everybody else when the statue started speaking. She didn't understand, so she quickly cast a spell so she could. When the statue indicated to sit, she came closer, but kept looking around just in case this was an elaborate trap. Or if there was something interesting hidden there.

Spoiler: OOC actions

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I cast comprehend languages on myself so I can understand what is said.
Perception: (1d20+8)[21]

[u-b]

Laurelata sees no traps. The marble benches seems to be just that, solid and well-made. The land around them does not seem to be trapped either and there are actual footprints on it, so that's sort of reassuring too.

[DarkOne-Rob]

Henri's eyes go wide when the statue moves and gets ready to speak. "What is it saying?" he asks as it gestures and he follows the others, carefully...

[SanguinePenguin]

Taz jumps back when the statue makes noise. When Jessica responds, she relaxes a bit. Too much of their time here has been spent failing to communicate. When the others apprach the dias, she backs away, "I'll keep watch. I can't understand anyway." She scans the surrounding area for movement.

Spoiler

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Taz is keeping her distance, not going within 10' of the marble disk

Perception: (1d20+6)[26]

Sorry for my silence the past few days, I seem to have accidentally unsubscribed from the thread.

[Farmerbink]

Jessica falters only briefly at the statue's command. She glances back at her allies, realizing the oddness of her own foreign speech and every aspect of the situation. She turns back to the stone and whispers a simple prayer to Shelyn. "Bless this beauty and protect your servant in this, Eternal Rose."

With another nod of respect, she approaches the bench, fully intent upon listening. She moves to take a small journal out of her pack. "May I take notes?"

[DaOldeWolf]

Hewitt is quite surprised but mostly in interest. "Since I dont understand the language either, I suppose I will keep watch with Taz and Lightburn" Hewitt replies trying to hide his curiosity on the possible revelation to his companions. Lightburn nods in agreement to Hewitt´s suggestion.

[farothel]

"the statue is going to tell the story of Acavna," Laurelata summarized, also taking her journal and pencil, "I think it's best if Jessica and myself write it down and you guys make sure we're not ambushed. We'll share with you later, okay."

[u-b]

The statues seem to react very positively to Jessica's idea of taking notes, they say it is permitted and even encouraged. When only some of you sit on the benches, the statues ask why this is the case. Given the answer about the others not knowing the language, they say that they will teach you the language too.

A lecture about Acavna is a long, but interesting one. It seems they both know the subject very well and follow a well-thought-out introductory script. They then tell you about Amaznen and keep giving you more and more info about their faith. The lecture will take literally as long as you let them, so it is up to you if and when you try to cut it short.

Spoiler

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They tell as if Acavna and Amaznen are still alive and vell. Those of you succeeding on either Religion or History 20 can have they own opintion about the matter.

[farothel]

Laurelata kept listening until all of a sudden she didn't understand anymore what was being said.
"Okay, I'm out," she said to Jessica, "my spell just ran out. Unless they can say something in other languages, it's up to you."

She looked at the statues.
"can you speak other languages," she asked, first in elven, then in draconic, celestial, gnome and dwarven unless she ran out of languages to speak in or they indicated that they could speak that language.

[u-b]

The statues seem to understand the problem, but, unfortunately, speak no other shared language. They check if Jessica can still communicate and propose that she acts as an interpreter. They say that they might continue while making enough pauses for her to comfortably do so, or they can even repeat from the start so that you can invite the rest of your friends to listen.

[Farmerbink]

Spoiler: OOC

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Some relevant questions:
How much time has expired?
What time of day is it?

If it's too late, she will ask them if this is a safe place to camp?

I assume the others are largely keeping watch?

Also OOC, those links clearly express that the deities have died, defending humanity and somewhat lessening the impact of the Age of Darkness. I assume their instruction ends chronologically before this point?

Jessica nods eagerly, after glancing only briefly to her allies. Since none appear to be immediately and strongly opposed, she gladly resumes the role of dedicated student- one she enjoyed and flourished in on the main continent. Still a bit overcome by the oddness of having what appear to be literal works of art as educators, Jessica nonetheless hangs on their every word in an effort to learn more about the island.

Finally, after a time, she asks a question of her own, "So are we in Azlant, then? This island and the denizens are of Azlanti... design? creation? heritage, even?"

[DarkOne-Rob]

Henri waits, mostly patiently, keeping watch and drawing in his journal. When even fewer of the party members can understand he mutters, "Didn't the ghost warn us that the statues tried to teach them stuff?" as he yawns broadly...

[SanguinePenguin]

Taz yawns in succession with Henri. This was incredibly dull, might be better if she knew the language... then she freezes. "Wait... didn't Weatherbee say someone barely escaped from statues trying to teach stuff?"

[farothel]

"It's only the history of some gods I've never heard about," Laurelata said, "I doubt it's dangerous. Dull, yes, but not dangerous. Well, we can keep an eye on Jessica. She's the only one who actually understands the language. Maybe we should all learn if we're going to encounter more ruins."

[u-b]

The statues tell you that this is Azlant. Azlant used to be a continent, though, not an island. This particular holy site was built by Azlanti humans, and so were its guardians. The fact that it is now on an island and sees so little traffic is very unfortunate.

Spoiler

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How much time has expired?
What time of day is it?

If it's too late, she will ask them if this is a safe place to camp?

It's early afternoon when you arrive at the site. And they can lecture you well into the evening if you let them. If asked, they'll let you camp in the two buildings here (or tents, if you prefer, but buildings seems to be fine).

[DarkOne-Rob]

Henri nods solemnly at the concerns voiced by the others but doesn't do anything - yet. As the sun approaches the horizon he inspects the two buildings, carefully, and begins collecting brush to make a fire. As long as nothing threatening happens, he will have a moderately comfortable campsite set up by sundown and will be working on lighting a cooking fire at a good location near to the scene of the party's odd education.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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With Survival +7 I figure this is not an unreasonable thing to make happen, given the party's time on the island. If I need to roll skill checks, please let me know.

[Farmerbink]

Jessica gladly shares that the buildings are relatively safe places to rest for the night, and for the moment is content to let the statues lecture at least for the rest of the day. Unsure precisely what they're looking for (other than generally answers), she's content to seek them from what appear to be reliable sources.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm getting a vibe that this is probably a dead end? I'm not sure precisely what I expect from this situation, either, but a relatively safe place to rest is a more than welcome development, and the whole "worshipping the goddess of beauty [artistry]" thing has me inclined to play it out. Any other thoughts/objections?

[DaOldeWolf]

Hewitt nods in agreement though he still wants to learn in more detail about what Jessica learnt from the statues. "After we have settled down, would you mind sharing about the statues and what they told you pretty please? I am a big fan of history and I would love to learn more about the place we are staying in."

[farothel]

Laurelata will help Henri with the campsite and also do a bit of exploring around the site (not going too far and certainly staying within shouting distance) to check not only for tracks, but also some vegatables, herbs or other edibles to make the meal a bit better than rations.

Spoiler: OOC rolls

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I'll take 10 on survival for 13 in total.
perception: (1d20+8)[21]
profession (cook): take 10 for 16 in total.

[u-b]

Henri's inspection of the buildings reveals that they are, in fact, not quite empty. One contains a broken telescope. Another contains a finely-made darkwood chest with the following contents: a stone tablet depicting a strange tower on an island (DC 20 geography or history), a small heap of Azlant-minted gold coins and a strange crystal, which, upon inspection, turns out to be magical (please roll to identify as usual).

Nothing much around the campsite is of particular interest, but there is enough firewood to be gathered and other stuff that would make your camping here comfortable enough.

[DarkOne-Rob]

Henri shrugs at the tablet and gem, passing them to the others for review. He sets the coins aside and works to make the campsite comfortable, watching and listening to the others as they discuss the finds and the statues' stories.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Knowledge (Geography): (1d20+5)[13] vs DC 20.

[SanguinePenguin]

Despite her initial vigilance, standing around while Jessica listened to statues talk was not a very stimulating, and Taz dozed off multiple times throughout the day. She wasn't sure how much longer she could let Jessica pursue yet another one of her interests. At least, relative to the goblins, this seemed less a threat to the colony. However, it was vastly more boring.

Taz eyes the telescope with interest. "This is a telescope! I've heard about these." After looking through the eyepiece, she declares, "it seems broken though. I wonder if someone from the colony could repair it... or maybe I just don't know how to use it," she muses idly. Now away from the completely unintelligible academic lecture, she is full of energy (aided by her frequent naps), so she spends some time trying to identify how to repair it.

Spoiler

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Perception: (1d20+6)[20]

I am almost certain Taz lacks both the skil and the means to repair the telescope, but she is bored. She will do a minimal exploration to see what sort of problem(s) the telescope has, any assessment she can give of what is broken, and what sort of skills might be required to fix it.

[farothel]

Laurelata was interested in the telescope as well, but she was content to let Taz play with that while she and probably Hewitt tried to figure out what the coins were worth and what the magical crystal actually was. She has no clue as to what the tablet depicted, but they could always check that later.

Spoiler: OOC rolls

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the coins is probably appraise: (1d20+7)[19]
I'll roll to aid Hewitt with the identify, as he has a better spellcraft skill: (1d20+4)[18] (DC10 to give Hewitt a +2 on the identify roll)

[u-b]

Tazmara studies the telescope. All of its brass seems to be present, if a bit bent on the front where the lens is completely shattered. The eyepiece seems to have fared much better, its lenses are all intact. Fixing the brass should not be a problem for a competent smith. The eyepice will need disassembly, cleaning, polishing and reassembly. Not trivial, but certainly doable. The biggest problem is the main lens, which is currently just a set of broken pieces of various sizes. There is enough of them to measure the thickness of the lens and maybe estimate the refractive index of the glass, if you are a competent glassworker, but without some nontrivial magic to restore the lens to its original shape, it seems the best bet would be to just make a new one.

The coins would probably worth 230 gp. There is a bit less gold content, but Azlant-minted coins are sort of collectibles, so they go at a premium. The crystal is the least cognizance crystal - a valuable thing, but only useful to those who do psionics.

The night passes without incident. You post your own guards, who can observe that the statues are also guarding you. In the morning you have your breakfast and the statues inform you that they are ready co continue your education.

Spoiler

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Write off a day's worth of food and water. The water cannot be replenished without leaving the site.

[farothel]

"Interesting," Laurelata said when they figured out what the items were, "and don't worry about the telescope, I'm sure we'll manage somehow to repair it."

The next morning, she looked at the others.
"Are we going to spend another day here," she asked, "I think we better move on to discover more and come back here when things have calmed down a bit. Besides, we need water, so some of us have to leave anyway."

[DaOldeWolf]

Hewitt is a bit torn about what to do. On one hand, they had something valuable that needed repair immediately but there was also the situation of this new place. The possibility to uncover more information about what historically happened there. It was a chance to learn and with easily accesible information for once. "I suppose you are right, Laurelata. We should consider our survival first and fore most."

[DarkOne-Rob]

Henry is up before most of the rest, noting the statues standing sentry but moving deliberately to collect water and prepare a breakfast-cooking-fire as the sun rises. He waits to see what the others plan to do for the day, looking bored and uninterested in sitting as the statues deliberate in a foreign tongue again...

[Farmerbink]

As the statues announce their (somewhat expected) single-minded pursuit, Jessica glances towards her companions with an expression of unease.

She turns back to the lead figure, bowing deeply in a genuine and graceful blend of reverence and apology. "I am fascinated by your lessons," she begins. "And even moreso by your very being. Still, I think it's for the best that we continue our own exploration for now, and that I return, perhaps with other scholars, more learned than myself? This knowledge is too precious to be lost, and simply invaluable from a source so close to the original topics, but it seems it will do little to aid us in our immediate survival."

"Could you perchance tell us of any other structures nearby where we could learn more of the island that remains?"

Spoiler: OOC

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So I think I'm technically trying to both influence them with diplomacy and perhaps make a request? I'm not even sure how that works with mechanical... targets(?). If another skill would better suit, please feel free to substitute the roll.

(1d20+8)[21] diplomacy

[u-b]

The statues accept Jessica's proposal to come back later. They say that most of the structures seem to have given up to the passage of time, but the warden jack seems to be still guarding something, so you could maybe try the north-west if you dare. When asked what this warden jack is, they respond that it is a large group os tiny spherical constructs acting in unison, that seems to guard some specific location, but occasionally patrols the surrounding areas too.

Spoiler

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You can leave freely and will find good fresh water with one hour of search.

[Farmerbink]

Jessica bows again, gratefully. "Thank you again for both the lesson and the advice. I think we will see to this warden jack."

Beaming, she reports the statue's advice to her companions and laces up her boots for their continued exploration. As they leave the immediate vicinity of the statues, she recalls the bizarre path they followed the day before. "A large group of tiny spherical constructs seems to be exactly what it would take to make a path like that, isn't it? I... am hesitant to expect them to be as friendly as these tutors. Does anyone have a suggestion for how to manage them if it gets dangerous?"