“It was not my intention to hurt her. Sometimes I´m a bit hot tempered. And I think we will learn more about the caves and the natives if they do not see us too early. If they see torchlight they will flee. Thanks for your mediation."
Tayma does take the light and follow, not exactly sure what the various tinkling sounds mean "I meant no offense. I merely meant that I feel it would be improper to sneak into someone's home even if it is a cave. We should let them know we are here, if they wish to avoid us that should be there choice."
The lighted rock falls 25 paces before coming to a rest, the dim light shows that the walls are roughly the same distance apart all the way down, and that there appear to be other caves which emerge into this chasm along each wall.
"It looks like it it the end of the road; unless you have some tricks up your sleeves. I will go down there, see what there is while you find a way to go down. And.... please keep my clothes with you, just in case."
Nicolae will reduce in size, and a small bat will emerge from a sleeve of his shirt. The bat will jump of the ledge and explore the surrounding caves and passages while the rest are finding a way down.
There are dozens of caves entering here, and to explore them all would presumably take much longer than what it will take the group to find a way down. However two thing do present themselves rather quickly- first at one end of the cavern is a large set of ornately carved double doors made of stone within an archway that resembles a temple.
The other thing is a cat which is napping in one of the caves until you pass, at which point it calls out in what seems to be Romany "Hey, what are you doing? Do you have a death wish?" before transforming into an swallow and chasing after you.
Frederic fly´s half way down then hovers in place and turns around to see if there is a way down for his fellows.
OCC: Is Frederic aware of the Cat / Shallow that chases Nicolae?
Nicolae will try to lead the bird/cat back to the main grotto, and then land:
"Greetings. I don't have a death wish, but don't try to cross me either; unless you have one yourself. In any case, if you just avoided me a painful deat. The name's Nicolae. What about you ? It is not everyday that I encounter someone who is also able to wear many shapes."
He points towards Flavius with his leathery wing, who is hoovering in the air:
"You see that man ? He is part of powerful individuals that have taken residence outside the temple ruins, and we were exploring the surrondings. I was merely scouting ahead when I stumbled upon you. So.... Deathwish ? Is there anything dangerous here, that I should warn my companions about ?"
Does Frederic understand What Nicolae is saying?
OOC: I am speaking in romany, as the creature adressesd me in romany.
In this case Fredeic is landing quickly to be ready for whatever is needed. He just watch and listen for now. And he makes sure to have nothing between him and the shape changing creature.
Vulpus is going invisible. It just seems safer at this moment.
Garcin will draw his sword and stand by Frederick, slightly to the front and slightly off to the side so he can intercept, but not block his sight.
The creature lands on a ledge and moves inward, changing into a sheep. "It is not I you need to worry about, but the thunder king down there. He tends to kill any of us he spots flying in his cavern. Especially in the shape of a bat." The sheep gives the people in your party a sideways look. "Have you met the locals yet? Have they told you about us?"
Everybody hears what the creature is saying in their native language.
Nicolae shift back to his human form, and then stand there, arms crossed:
"They might have tried at some point..., but hey even the most learned of us all could not understand a word they were saying." He looks at where Vulpus was, but doesnt find him, so he looks back the creature, thinking, before saying:
"Yeah that might explain why that guy went to his knees and started rambling when I changed form instead of running away like people usually do. What is it exactly that you are, and why on earth would the Thunder King, whomever he is, have an axe to grind with something as harmless as a bat ?"
The sheep shrugs, which is truly ackward to behold. "He doesn't like bats I guess, I'm sure there is a reason, but I have no idea what it is, or was. Anyways, locals tend to make offerings to us so we don't play pranks on them, of course, part of the offering is indicating who they do want us to play pranks on, so a lot of times feuds wind up getting us a lot of gifts. We like artwork, small statues, especially animals. These outsiders they call the raiders have been a popular choice lately. fun to prank, but they don't seem to get the rules of the game. Plus they don't come near the caves that often. I don't think your group is raiders, especially if they travel with... what are you anyways? You are like us, but not like us."
Nicolae chuckles:
"Nah, I am not entirely like you, although I do like to prank folks to from time to time. I am Nicolae, pleasure to meet you. We're from a caravan, well I guesss not anymore. We used to travel all around the world and magi, like Tomas and Flavius over there, used to search for very old places for forgotten knowledge. Between you and me, it was a lot of moving dirt and stones around, and not a lot of finding secrets. Anyway, I was there to take care of the animals helping the caravan; horses, oxen, fancy exotic birds, dogs, cats, and even a crocodile in Egypt. Was a nice gang, it was fun travelling. A shame they all went their separate way after the caravan died. Long story short, a year ago, our leader bit the dust and here we are, settling in ruins of our own. Maybe you know the place ? Not far from here, a few stones temples on the hill."
He stop to take his breath, and them continue more slowly:
"Sorry, sometimes I talk and talk. Let's get to the point"
He points towards Flavius:
"This is Flavius, a magus of house Flambeau, he can do pretty much anything he wants with fire, although he is somewhat hot tempered."
And then towards Tomas:
"And this is Tomas, he is a magus of house Bonisagus. He's very good a healing people. Behind him is Maffeo, he is a magus of house... anyway he is a magus. He is quite the organizer. Over there, the guy with the sword is Garcin; if you want to please him, a food offering is generally welcomed. This is Tamya, she had... she had it rough recently. And then Vulpus.Vulpus ? My clever friend must be snopping somewhere, he is pretty shy with new people but he'll show himself eventually."
"What is your name by the way ? And have the raiders troubled the natives for long ? We were not able to communicate very well; except for Vulpus learning a few words and watching them having intercourse, our best efforts have been hampered by strong language barrier I am afraid."
Vulpus slowly fades back into sight. He was squarely behind Frederick, whom Vulpus deemed the most likely to deflect danger. He slowly padded forward and spoke. "It occurs to me,", he spoke slowly, "that in my desire to learn their language, none of us ever attempted to ascertain if they already spoke any of ours. I listened, but never spoke. Do they also know the spell of tongues?
He looks as sheepish as he ever could, which means not very...
"Spell of tongues? Oh no, this is just something we do, I am qezkal, and the raiders, not long really, a century or so."
Frederic hunkers down to be on one level with qezkal.
“As Nicolae already mentioned I´m Frederic of the house Flambeu. We are exploring the environment of our new home. We didn’t expect to meet such noble creatures here in the caves. Otherwise we would have brought some presents with us. Please forgive us our bad behavior.
Now as we are here and had the luck to meet you, may I ask you to show us your cave´s? I´m sure we wouldn’t find a better guide than you.”
Frederic´s moves are slowly and carefully. People who know him will see that he is not as relaxed as he tries to appear.
Garcin will put on the Chiming Aura long enough to get a measurement, then take it off again.
It would seem there is no magic aura here.
"My caves? Well, I could show you our caves, if you want to follow me..." it changes again into the bird and flies out into the chasm, where it is suddenly hit with a bolt of lightning which comes from below, and then drops towards the ground. Another note is added to the choir of vis you hear below.