Hjalgrimm asks "Lord Askelon did you prepare Speak With Dead?" Yes. Tenktovie and Hjalgrimm agree that Prince Brant speaks Old Jarin. Tenktovie wants to ask the questions. Noctis puts the prince's circlet on his head. Hjalgrimm suggests handing bones and belongings to the guards but keeping jewels. They agree to hand the chain of office and the shield over with the bones, and hope that will satisfy the guards.
Askelon casts Speak With Dead, and Tenktovie asks the questions in Old Jarin.
- Who does he think threw him down here? "Captain Ralian"
- Why does he think he was thrown down here? "My uncle ordered him to do so."
- Was your uncle next in line for the throne? "Yes."
- Are there any treasures down here we have not located? "I do not know."
- Are there treasures in what we believe is a tar pit? "Yes, I believe so."
Rook casts Detect Magic from his wand on the items. None of them are magic. The rapier hilt does have a few small jewels, which Askelon guesses are worth maybe 5gp each. He pries them out, but they all break. Hjalgrimm suggests they can ask Murath if he can go into the tar pit and ask if he can gather items from there. Tenktovie ponders aloud "Do we know if this is a tar pit or creature?" We do not. The party gathers up the prince's bones into a sack, then carefully packs the shield and the chain of office. Askelon takes the rapier handle. They put the circlet into the party Bag of Holding.
The party returns to the hole and chats with Murath. They ask if he can go into the tar, he says yes. Can he exit on his own? Yes. Will he pull out the treasures from down there? OK. Hjalgrimm admits they don't really have anything to pay Murath with. Murath lumbers off to the pit, calmly strolls in, and slowly pulls out six bodies, including Askelon's skeleton. The party checks the bodies for magic and finds two items that detect as magical - a Halberd and a Weaver's Set. The weaver's set was sealed well enough to keep the think almost frozen tar from seeping in.
Murath tries to talk to the party, but it is clear to all that the language is Terran again, the Tongues spell has expired. Tenktovie recasts Tongues. Murath asks if the bone men speak. No. Can he keep the bone men for friends until he gets a new home? Yes.
Back at the hole, Hjalgrimm and Askelon can faintly hear music from above. While the party prepares to climb back up the rope, Hjalgrimm asks if Murath can teach him stonesinging. Murath says that Hjalgrimm must see the colors of the stone. The Galeb Duhr emits a low rumbling steady tone and many of the rocks in the area vibrate and dance. Murath then places a hand onto the cave wall and his voice changes to include harmonics in a multi-tonal humming. He reaches out and touches Hjalgrimm and tells him to hum from deep inside, relax into it and then push out the color. Hjalgrimm tries, but makes a mess of it. Murath stops, then tells Hjalgrimm to see the stone, relax, and try again. This time the Khuzdul opens his throat and lets out a low steady tone. He adjusts it to harmonize with Murath's tone and places his hand on the wall. He thinks it is basalt. Suddenly he can "see" the basalt columns suffusing the caverns walls and floor around him! Murath laughs and gives a cheer! "That, my friend, is Stonesinging. Once you have this skill you can learn Stoneshaping."
As the group prepares to ascend, Murath forms a miniature statuette of Hjalgrimm, then makes miniature of himself for Hjalgrimm. Like he did before, Noctis gives Murath a rock, and Murath shapes the rock into a tiny Noctis statuette.
The party climbs out, Faelon first, then Tenktovie, then Askelon, then Noctis, and Hjalgrimm last so that he cannot take anyone else out if he falls.
Even before they reach the top of the hole in the pit, they can hear music and the noise of a crowd. As the party emerges from the pit, one by one, they find quite the gathering has assembled. They can see Misha and Alma playing music, at least a dozen local villagers, Bish with his cart out and cooking lunch, Denneth, Rhyna Zurinda, and Weyliri Isiloth protecting the rope into the hole, and about ten city guards wearing Clan Elendsa black and gold. The guards stand out in their black and gold tabards, wearing either studded leather or chain mail armor, and equipped with swords and crossbows. One guard, who appears to be the leader, is wearing a breastplate over his chain mail. Faelon and Tenktovie notice that he was likely promoted very recently, as one of his rank strips is clearly newer than the other. This makes sense, as there would have been promotions with the death of the Sheriff to fill gaps.
The lead guard greets the adventurers. "I am Captain Rheiland. Welcome back to the surface! None of us has memory of anyone coming back out from Ona-Setrum." Hjalgrimm appears alarmed and asks "Did ye say Captain Rallian?" "No, master Dwarf, 'tis Captain Rheiland." Hjalgraimm asks Tenktovie if he can get a Thaumaturgy and the priest obliges. Hjalgrimm announces. "I will have you all know we found the remains of the prince. Here are his remains, his shield, and his chain of office!" A cheer goes up. When the crowd calms down the captain asks "Did you see the prince's spirit?" Hjalgrimm answers "Yes,the prince was thrown in by Captain Ralian, by order of the prince's uncle, who was next in line for succession. You'd do well to tell your masters." There is collection of gasps from the crowd and Captain Rheiland nods. He reaches out to Hjagrimm, who hands over the remains, the shield, and the chain of office. Captain Rheiland addresses the gathering. "Friends, I confirm that this heraldry upon this ancient shield is indeed the crest of Clan Ethelyen, the royal house of Nurelia." He carefully sets down the shield and holds the skull and chain aloft. "We shall bear the Prince's remains to Caer Olokand and see that he is properly interred below in the royal crypt!" The crowd cheers.
Captain Rheiland turns back to the party. "What of the creature rumored to inhabit Ona-Setrum, the misshapen one with terrible claws and fangs?" "Oh," Hjalgrimm responds, "there is a creature below, to be sure, but it is no fiend. It is a friend, a Galeb Duhr, a creature of stone and earth. He seeks only peace, and not to harm." The captain then asks "What of any of those who have been thrown in, or entered willingly but ne'er emerged?" "Aye, we found many bloated and desiccated corpses below, but none of note. We found nothing useful on the bloated bodies."
At this point, a slight Human woman wearing simple white robes with green trim, a ring of flowers in her blond hair, and a Peonian holy symbol as a necklace pendant, approaches the captain, leans up, and whispers in his ear. Askelon picks up that she tells him "The speak the truth." Hjalgrimm grins, as he anticipated this, and told no lie - he only omitted some things. The captain smiles and nods.
The captain tells the party that he understands they were on their way out of town when they stopped to investigate Ona-Setrum, so he will keep them no longer from their travel. He gathers the other guards and they depart for Caer Olokand.
Bish invites the party to came have lunch. He tells them that several of the locals have donated fresh sausages and bread. Weyliri insists on cleaning the grime from the party before they partake in the victuals.
Before long the crowd has dispersed and the party is back on the road. Denneth explains that they can take the nicer road along the Kald River or the slightly shorter but rougher roads that run more directly to Bifyrd. The party agrees to stick to the original plan and take the nicer roads.
As they travel south they pass through the villages of Medarsin (Fortified Manor), Terendra (Fortified Manor), Shotren (Manor), Chunem (Manor), Lachel (Manor), Bifyrd (Fortified Manor), Feron (Fortified Manor), Hasebe (Fortified Manor), and Nothrine (Fortified Manor). They reach Nothrine in the early afternoon.
Tenktovie is asked if this is his home, and he tells them he spent part of his childhood here before leaving for Tashal and the Temple of Save K'Nor K'Nor. They ask if the party should take a break and spend the night here, and Tenktovie says No, we can push on. They ask if his family is still here, and he explains that his parents have passed on, but his brother manages the holdings they had. He points out the small house and the surrounding gardens and livestock. He tells them that he believes his brother is currently missing. They pass by the Happy Hawk Inn and take notice of the few shops and the fishing pier and mill here. They push on west to Durrie.
After Durrie the road becomes more of a trail and it quickly becomes surrounded by woods, with the Hemurin on the left as they move west upstream. As the sun sets ahead of them they are still travelling through woods. They encounter the occasional small creature, but spy no Kath or Taelda.
Perhaps an hour after sunset they emerge from the woods into a huge glade hundreds of yards long. It is easily two hundred yards wide from the river north to the edge of the woods. Denneth explains that this juncture is a camp area referred to by the Kath and Taelda tribes as the "Meeting Glade." It is considered neutral ground and has been consecrated by the shamans of both tribes. The glade is large, and is set up so that the southwest corner has camping for Kath, the northern corner has camping for Taelda, and the eastern corner has camping for Kaldorans. At the southwest corner where the Kath would set up another river joins with the Hemurin - it is the Efrel River. They notice that there seem to be no Kath in their area, but they can see that there are a few tents standing in the Taelda camp and a fire is burning there.
They settle in at the campsite area intended for the non-tribal people. Denneth explains that the Taelda refer to their tribe as a 'nation.' Bish gets dinner started as the party set up their tents.
After getting some dinner, Faelon, Rook, and Tenktovie decide to pay the Taelda a visit. They ask Denneth if the Taelda are weavers and tells them that the Taelda are actually quite skilled in a number of crafts. He retells the story of how a Kaldoran engineer named Amyll got lost in this area about 180 year ago and was rescued by the Taelda. They nursed him back to health, and in return he taught them everything he knew, which appears to have been considerable. Askelon and Hjalgrimm remain at the camp.
As the group approaches the Taelda camp a pair of Taelda, Human males, walk toward them on the path. They are dressed nicely, in wool and soft leather breeches, shirts, and vests, well-crafted boots and belts, and with short swords and short bows sheathed. In surprisingly clear Common Hârnic they greet the visitors. "Hail, and well met, travelers. Welcome to our camp. Please join us in peace at our fire." The group follows the Taelda to their camp. There are four tents set up near cookfire. Several Taelda bring out some interesting wooden chairs. They are slatted with strips of alternating types of wood, one reddish brown and the other a pale ash color. Each chair is three pieces connected with hinges. There is a foot piece, a seat, and a back. When unfolded, there is a small pillow on the seat. They are surprisingly comfortable while being practical fort travel. The group hands fresh-baked bread and hot sausages to their hosts, who are delighted. "Fresh bread! That is a treat indeed! Are you traveling west?" The group explains they are heading west, doing a bit of exploring. They ask about dangers to the west, and the Taelda explain that the woods along the Hemurin have the typical predators like wolves and great cats, but they don't usually attacked groups, preferring lone prey. Of course, going farther west along the shores of Lake Myen brings other dangers, like Gargun and great predatory birds from the lake.
Back at the party campsite, Askelon studies his spellbooks and Hjalgrimm engages in conversation with Rhyna about his experiences with Murath.