Dorn admires the shiny brass-rimmed and spiked shield, and asks Aele, "You're sure it's enchanted?"
"Oh yes, without a doubt. Magic may mostly be surpressed on the Surface, but as a devotee of Cromm — whom it turns out is simply a more recent aspect of Thoth — I cannot be mistaken. I am also gifted to be able to discern curses, and the shield carries none."
Dorn smiles, studying the shield. "And you're sure neither of you wants to claim it?" He grins like a kid with a new toy. "What's this word inscribed on the spike?" He scrutinizes it, then tries to pronounce it: aurimignos. A blinding flash of light elicits surprised oaths from everyone in the hidden chamber — and none more loudly than Dorn himself.
"I guess that answered that question," Aele observes drily, humor in his tone. He studies the potion recovered from the chest. "Unfortunately, I don't have the knowledge or tools to guage this potion's properties, but I know a sage in Gosterwick who can do it, the next time we leave the dungeon for some downtime."
"I love how confidently you toss off 'leaving the dungeon'," Exie says. Then she turns to Sulla. "In my book, you have proven yourself. You got to Dorn and dosed him with that healing potion in the skeleton fight. I won't forget that."
"My thanks as well," Dorn says.
"You're welcome," Sulla says, continuing to sort some of the items that the party gathered earlier in visiting the mushroom forest cavern to the southeast. She ties off a bundle of the green, asparagus-looking vegetables and hands them to Exie. "They're better cooked, but can be eaten raw." Next she divvies up some edible mushrooms. Enough oily vine — Sulla calls it firevine — is available to make three torches. Sulla does so, then passes one to each of her companions. "They won't burn as brightly as regular torches, but they last longer. This is what the goblins use in King Weskenim's domain."
Dorn files away 'King Weskenim' for follow-up later, rubs his eyes. "I'm tempted to try to get this haul and us out of here. By my estimation, it's worth, not counting the shield, well north of fifteen hundred imperials. But it's not quite enough to make it worth the effort, and I'm a wanted man. Besides, I've a promise to keep." He looks at the wizard-priest of Cromm-Thoth. "We have to explore the Halls of Thoth. But first, let's get some sleep." He pulls a small hourlgass from his pack, cups it in his palm. "I'll take the first watch. Bed down, get some shut eye."
Exie wraps herself in her heavy woolen cloak. Too heavy for wearing in combat, it is worth the extra bulk and weight when sleeping. "We should try to use the copper pieces here in the dungeon — for bribes, for gear, food. Their value-to-weight ratio is quite low."
"Your right," Dorn agrees. "We'll divvy it up after we rest. Get some sleep, love. You're next on watch."
Several hours later, the four are rested and have packed. Exie crabwalks back down the short, crumbling stone stairs after listening with an ear pressed to the 'ceiling' of the hidden chamber. "I can't hear anything, but be ready to kill once we exit. We can't afford for others to learn of this location."
Once they emerge and confirm nobody lurking nearby, Sulla quickly leads the group north. "We're going to come upon a statue of a creature. Don't touch it, and don't get any closer to it than I do."
"What sort of creature?" Dorn asks.
"Uh, well ... usually it looks a little like you, but sometimes another creature ... what is it called when something swords through the air, not falling, but going somewhere..."
"Flying, and I think you mean soars, not swords," Exie supplies, helpfully.
"Yes, sometimes a creature is flying and lands on it, and that creature looks like the one on his necklace," she answers, pointing to Aele. He pulls out his holy symbol, a silver ibis. "This was given to me by my grandfather, when I was confirmed as a priest of Cromm. And I can tell you that until this very moment, it has always been a crown atop a mountain. I can't explain this change, unless the symbol is magical and I somehow have never detected that fact — something I find very hard to credit."
Sulla smiles impishly. "Many things change within Arden Vul. Items, minds, allegiances. Perhaps it is not that your necklace is magical, but that this place itself is..."
Rounding a corner in the passage, the party enters a large chamber. Directly ahead is a statue of a baboon, a creature none of the adventurers has ever encountered before.
"When will we enter the Thothian area?" Aele asks.
"Beyond this chamber," Sulla answers, gesturing toward the passage that exits this chamber behind the baboon statue. She says, "Don't move, anyone," then she takes one step forward. The eyes of the baboon statue light up, eldritch blue. It's mouth begins to open. Sulla takes one more step forward and the baboon raises both its arms above its head, ready to bring them crashing down.
"It's enchanted," Aele observes.
"Yes," Sulla agrees, taking two steps back toward her companions. The statue's mouth closes, it's arms lower, and then slowly the glow of the eyes begins to fade.
"I can probably find a way to disable it," Exie says, thinking as she studies the ten foot statue.
"But do we risk it?" asks Dorn. "Fail to disarm it and get squashed like a bug. That thing must weigh double what the four of us do combined.
"I could act all mysterious, but I am working on gaining your trust," Sulla says. "I have seen another way to bypass it." She turns to Aele. "Your holy symbol on your necklace. It identifies you as a priest of Thoth, and you yourself recently said it has become clear to you that Cromm is a modern aspect of Thoth. You are the second priest of Thoth I have met. The first one wore a symbol just like yours. Approach the statue, Zhorvin."
The priest regards the halfling, appreciating her use of his familiar rather than his intimate name.
"It's a hell of a risk, Aele," Dorn cautions.
"As is all of life," the priest answers, and Aele takes two steps forward. A fluttering comes from a dark corner somewhere beyond the baboon statue and close to the chamber's ceiling, then into the light of the lantern an ibis swoops, lands atop the baboon's head, and before everyone's eyes becomes part of the statue.
"Amazing!" Aele breathes, right hand holding his holy symbol.
"It's a guardian golem," Lexie says. "A Thothian guardian that recognizes one of its own," and she regards Aele with new eyes. "Will it let us pass?"
"Yes," Sulla answers, "now that it sees we are escorted by a Thothian."
Dorn shakes his head. "I'll be damned. I'm best friend to a Thothian."
