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The group finally made it up the river to the spot where it was known to diverge toward Adorned in Brass's lair. The ship took the tributary up as far as it could until the water became too shallow – at an oasis just loaded with followers of Adorned in Brass. The whole place made Isha's skin crawl.
The captain and soldiers remained on the ship while the four dragon-touched headed into the oasis to try and figure out just what was going on here. People watched the group, but didn't engage them. Isha felt very out of place but didn't let that feeling of disquiet stop her.
The group walked around inspecting the area. It was definitely a shrine of some sort. pyramids in the four corners. In the center a huge bowl, much taller than any of them, with water coming up and spilling over the side, creating the tributary they'd taken to get here. Harpies or something hung out in the trees singing a disturbing and haunting tune. It started to grate.
The people loitering about… it seemed they were less affected by the plague and the ones who were, the symptoms were more controlled. As the sun fell wood for fires was handed out. The wood let off a weird green light. And this being a desert, wood was a commodity. The wood didn't seem to be of the trees that surrounded the oasis. From where did it come?
Isha finally decided to engage a group of people who had kids in as unthreatening way as possible. She asked to sit down with a group and began to work out some answers to their questions.
The man she talked to warmed up over time to her and her comrades. He was in from just south of Galba, had arrived recently. He said the priests handed out food and wood for the followers here, and usually had a morning service for Adorned in brass. The man had been motivated to come here by the chamberlain Walking in Sunlight who seemed more like a priest than an assistant to their house's diplomat. Suspicious. Unfortunately the followers didn't really know much specific about the supposed religion. Their deeper questions needed answers from elsewhere.
While we spoke to these people, an extremely bright and extremely distant flash of light lit up the entire sky. It got really quiet in the Oasis. Isha queried from her comrades what this might be and approximately what direction. Grant replied quietly that based on his knowledge, it seemed to come from …. Thorns. And Rath noted that the magnitude of it was consistent with the Realm defense grid. Did the Empress just start a war with Mask of Winters? The shiver that ran collectively through the group underscored the severity of that possibility. A few minutes later, a loud BOOOM and a huge gust of wind washed over the Oasis. It seemed like a good time to shuffle away from these followers of Adorned in Brass and discuss the situation and await, with the coming of the dawn, the religious service.
As morning arrived a group emerged from a building on top of the wall that made up the rectangular bowl from where the water was spilling. The head priest Carthack gave the short service which was touted the ways of technology and using brass and all that.
Once they retreated to the interior the group turned to decide what to do. It didn't seem that the priests mingled among the public, so no way to get answers just from pulling one of them aside as they walked by. Isha supported the notion of scaling the wall and kicking the door open. After not much debate all agreed and set off toward the bowl.
So may eyes stared at them as they proceeded. No one interfered. They scaled the wall with minimal effort and pushed the door open. A long, deep staircase lead down and they followed it to the bottom. They passed through a door into a room with a big brass statue. Carthack stood there with some acolytes and tried to turn us back. The man couldn't be reasoned with. The dragon-blessed were not welcome here, was it? By what authority Isha wondered.
On the one hand, Isha appreciated what Adorned in Brass could do to keep people from dying and spreading the plague. It was something that if possible should continue to help survivability as the survivors ride the plague out. But on the other hand, Adorned in Brass was not allowed to have followers, especially in her family's lands. Isha was prepared to overlook the latter if an agreement could be made to sustain and spread the protection from the plague that he was providing. But it was simply not to be.
A fight broke out. The group took down Carthack and the acolytes within moments, but not quickly enough to stop Carthack from animating the statue of Adorned in Brass. Was he nothing more than a name and a construct? Where was Mr Brass? Also, where were Walking in Sunlight and Song? They were definitely here somewhere…
Once the construct was dispatched they proceeded into the next room where they met Walking in Sunlight standing to the rear behind four pedestals holding large primates and a channel of water filtering from down to up in the center of the room (like a reverse waterfall). Next to him sat a gigantic egg. Isha guessed at this point that Walking in Sunlight was the real one running this show, whether or not Adorned in Brass actually existed.
He ranted at the group that they basically didn't understand anything they were doing and immediately sicced the primates on them. As the boys jumped to the first primate Isha briefly assessed the situation. After a moment she hurried past the monkeys to engage Walking in Sunlight. She tried to talk to him but he refused to grant them any leeway to parlay. Instead she attempted to unseat the egg. No good, too heavy. Like tons too heavy. So instead it was Walking in Sunglight.
Once the boys saw where her attention was directed they came over to engage Walking in Sunlight as well. Just as he went down, the egg split and cracked and shattered, revealing an eerily greenish Song. She glanced briefly at the situation and jumped into the channel of water in the center of the room, propelling her up and out as the whole structure began to crumble.
Each of the group did the same so that they were not crushed beneath the large structure as it collapsed. As they emerged they saw Song had escaped, but met a older woman who introduced herself as Marianne. She thanked the group for unraveling this mystery and said she would tell them more about what was going on when they met her at the Dancing Sirocco in the capital city. They were to ask for a room rented by Mnemon Opheria.
In the meantime the dragon-blessed should get moving, and she would do damage control…