The silver stars of the Eclipsing Moon (Chapter 2)

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
A little too slow to grab the rat, the shaman sighs in relief as Karl clamps his paws around it.
"Phew. Oh, yez. Eagles. I think...the corruption on them has been washed away. I think hyu may leave them go. Yez. Thiz rat...Maybe best we can do for him right now is knock him out?"

[Lycar]

Varek

After taking a good look at the bird in his hands, Varek turns to Bronsk and answers "Uh sorry Bronsk, this bird spirit thingy is still looking all purplish like. So still tainted then?"

Lycar

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
Bronsk blinks and peers closer. "Er. Oops. A little more, and should be all right..."
He concentrates once more and tries to drive out the taint in the Eagle.

[Maryring]

Another wave of Bronsk's purifying energy flows out, and the eagle screams as the last remains of the taint is driven out of it. As soon as the last drop of taint leaves it, it becomes truly ethereal and vanishes from sight. A strange silence overtakes the surroundings for a moment, before a strong updraft appears from within the well.

Spoiler

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Well done. Now you won't go splat if you jump into the well.

[Lycar]

Varek

Varek watches in amazement as the bird becomes etheral again.

"Eh ? Is it .. dead or something ?"

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Who knows, shrugs Karl. Anyway, shall we try and climb down the well?

[Lycar]

Varek

"Yeah let's! We have to get to Maria and that .. monster thing!"

And so Varek just hesistates for a moment to retrieve his trusty greatclub, before boldly heading for the well, intent on climbing it down.

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

What are we going to do with the rat first, though? asks Karl, still cradling the rat between his furry hands.

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
The shaman bites his fingernail, nervously.
"I...don't know. I guess we must let him go: we maybe will not return for a while. I think if he does not go down to warn anyone, iz okay."

[Ozzy_G]

How will we stop it going down though? asks Karl. Maybe we should tie it to something.

[Lycar]

Varek

"Tie up a rat? I dunno.. wouldn't it jsut, like, gnaw through the rope or something? If he was still a man i'd say, knock his lights out and be done with it. But i don't know how to k.o. a rat?"

Varek looks a bit dumbfounded. Sure, one could just hit the tiny rodent over the head. But.. wouldn't that be just as likely to break it's neck as to render it unconscious?

Lycar

[Amiria]

Lisaa

"Difficult. We need something like a sturdy box so that he can't smash it when he tries to shapeshift back.", says Lisaa. "Well, just let him go, like Bronsk said."

[Ozzy_G]

Karl sighs. He walks back towards the nearest houses, and looks to see if there's some sort of box around that he could put the rat in for now.

[Maryring]

Outside a house is a row of jars and vases in clay. It's not difficult for Karl to find one which is quite thick and stable enough so that the rat won't be able to escape from it once dropped inside.

[Ozzy_G]

Karl drops the rat into one of the clay vases, and then walks back to the well, and leans over, looking down.

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
The shaman chuckles, despite himself.
"Nice, nice. Now! to save our friend!"
He hastily dons trousers and joins Karl by the well.

[Maryring]

Peering into the well reveals that it is incredibly deep. No bottom can be seen, though a very strong updraft flows from it, maybe even strong enough to give a heavy werewolf a comfortable descent.

[Amiria]

Lisaa

"Insteresting, there must be magic behind this updraft. But I don't trust my life on it.", says Lisaa and gets the grappling hook and silk rope from her backpack. She ties the rope to the hook and puts it on the edge of the well (or the mounting of the bucket).

[Ozzy_G]

Woah! Karl steps back from the strong wind, combing down his ruffled fur. That is strong. But I agree, we can't trust our lives on it. Lucky you're so well-equipped, Lisaa.

[Lycar]

Varek

"Want me to take the lead? I'm a good climber. We used to lose the guards by climbing over walls and stuff all the time."

Varek seems kinda excited about the idea of climbing down the well. It won't be hard. He could even brace himself between the opposite sides of the well.

So varek slings his trusty greatclub over his back and decides to leave his leather armour and pants behind for the time being. He has no way to carry it if he can't wear it and he doesn't really need it anway. He's not naked, he has fur after all.

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Yeah sure, nods Karl, waiting for Varek to go first.

[Lycar]

Varek

Varek nods happily and goes ahead to climb over the edge of the well and down into it's depths.

Lycar

[Maryring]

Lisaa quickly ties and fastens her grappling hook to the well, allowing them to rapple down. One by one, they rapple down the slippery walls on the well, the descent aided by the powerful wind currents. As they descend, the walls change from the worked stone of the well to darker and darker shades of brown earth, until they finally wind up at a steeply sloping pathway, magically burrowed into the hard ground, that leads downwards. Torches have been fixed to the wall to provide soft illumination. As the first of them touch the ground at the bottom, the wind stops blowing and the rope stops swaying in the air. The pathway is built with a shard descent and it twists downwards in a spiral, making the group feel slightly dizzy as they quickly scamper down it. At the bottom, the spiral pathway opens up into what must have once been a grand garden, but is now just withered trees and flowers and dried up fountains. At the opposite end of the withered garden is a set of huge, beautifully ornated double stone doors set into a massive wall decorated with reliefs of flowers and animals in all shapes and sizes. Right above the top of the doors is a relief picturing an elf-like woman holding four spheres in her hands and all the animals are bowing reverently towards her. The only light which allows the werewolves to take in this sight comes from a large bonfire on the steps leading up to this grand door. Close to the bonfire are three lizardmen, and they are arguing loudly about which one of them who apparently cheated in the game they were playing.

Spoiler

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Almost forgot. Knowledge Nature or Knowledge Religion can tell you who the elf relief is.

[Ozzy_G]

Wow, whispers Karl, what's this? Lisaa, you have any idea? It kind of looks like an Elf.

[Lycar]

Varek

"You know," whispers Varek, "this has the same feel about it like when we were down in that... place below Michelle Ami's house? The water vault? With the key? I wonder if there is a key here too..."

"Those lizards seem to be working for the bad guy. How about we rush them and knock their heads together before they give us any trouble?"

Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Karl frowns and shakes his head. Varek, just because they're lizard-men doesn't make them evil. You shouldn't just jump in and assume they're the bad-guys.

[Lycar]

Varek

"Yeah but if they are the bad guys, better to knock 'em out while we get the drop on them. And if it turns out, they aren't the bad guys, we just say sorry and buy 'em a round of ale or two later."

Lycar

[Amiria]

Lisaa

"This is a statue of Gaia. This place is very old. And this must be her main temple.", says Lisaa amazed. "She was one of the most powerful deities of old. Plants and animals were her domain. Perhaps there is still some power at this place and these bad people abuse it for their evil plans."

[The Great Skenardo]

Bronsk
Bronsk gazes wide-eyed at the garden and its statue.
"Thiz...iz a place of powerful spirits..." He breathes, reverentially. "Iz called Gaia? I will remember. And later I will pay homage."

[Ozzy_G]

Hmmm... Karl scratches at his fur. I guess we should try and knock out the lizards then, but how?