August 25, Year 3488 (SE 118)
The party stop and listen for any sign of the harpies, but they don't hear anything, so they decide to secure the area before continuing on. Zedlyn loots the javelins from the dead lizardfolk and the entire party search the room that's beyond the ledge. The room appears to be the harpies' nest. The edges of the cave are covered in nesting made from rubble and vegetation, and the center of the room is dominated by a fire pit. Scattered over the floor are humanoid bones and the remains of clothing and gear.
A thorough search of the room reveals a large, iron-banded chest, (poorly) concealed inside the nesting; however, it is locked. P'hla is able to detect the presence of magic radiating from inside. None of the party are skilled in lockpicking, and they have no tools better than a dagger or a file. They attempt to pick the lock anyway, but are unsuccessful. They consider smashing the chest open, but in the end they decide to bring it back to Barar to find a locksmith. They leave the heavy chest behind for now.
The room also has a passage leading to the east, which the party follow and arrive at another small cavern, containing what appears to be a crude altar against the north wall, manacles shackled to the northern and southern walls, and a passageway continuing to the east. The altar is a bloodstained stone block, with a pouch lying atop it. Iriellis takes the pouch (while the rest of the party backs off for safety), but it turns out to be empty and there is nothing below it. A quick search of the room reveals a few gold pieces scattered around the floor, but nothing else.
The passage to the east slopes downwards, and after about fifty feet it also branches to the south. This southern branch continues for twenty more feet before ending in a large, flooded chamber, which the party don't explode immediately. Instead, they continue down the eastern passage.
The eastern passage continues for another fifty or so feet before levelling out and joining with another, larger passage coming from the southwest. Glancing down the southwest passage, the party see several features of note. The passage goes for thirty feet before hitting water, and right before the water are three crude clay huts. Against the southeastern wall, about ten feet above the ground, is a opening in the wall.
The party cautiously approach the huts, surmising that this must be where the lizardfolk live. However, their caution appears to be unnecessary, as the huts seem to be empty of both inhabitants and valuables.
Leaving the water alone for now, the party return to the eastern passage, which starts sloping upwards as they follow it. It winds onwards for a few hundred feet, and after turning a bend, they spot sunlight up ahead! The total length of the passage turns out to be 700 feet, and at the end the slope is steep enough to cause some difficulty in climbing it. It emerges onto a steep hillside, about twenty feet above ground level.
Returning to the cave, the party decide to investigate the two collapsed passages that they discovered several days before. They spend the next several hours digging and clearing rubble, only to come to the realization that the collapses are complete, and there is nothing beyond the rubble.
At the this point, it is getting fairly late in the day, so they decide to extract the treasure chest from the harpies' nest and return to Barar. Rather than try to cross the narrow ledge with the heavy chest, they instead haul it up the new exit that they had just discovered. Emerging at the hillside, they slide it down using rope, while Iriellis guides it past obstacles. They return to Barar on horseback, with Tamat going back to the nearby Druid circle.
August 26, Year 3488 (SE 118)
The next morning, the party head to the town locksmith, who charges them ten gold pieces to crack the lock after they convince him that they are adventurers who found the chest (rather than thieves who stole it). Several party members stay behind to keep an eye on the process while the rest spend the time relaxing about town.
Several hours pass and the locksmith is successful is cracking open the chest. Inside are several thousand silver pieces, several valuable pieces of jewelry, and a pair or sturdy, enchanted gloves. They distribute the silver and spend several hours selling the jewelry around town, netting themselves over a thousand gold pieces total. P'hla identifies the gauntlets as Gauntlets of Ogre Power, which, true to their name, give the wearer the strength of an ogre. Zedlyn and Adokas both want the gloves - Zedlyn, because he is the party's main front-line fighter, and Adokas because he is naturally weaker than Zedlyn so he will receive a larger boost from the gloves. In the end, the gloves go to Adokas.
By the time all of these tasks are completed, it's already mid-afternoon, meaning that it would be evening by the time they reached the caves if they left now. So, the party instead decide to spend the night in Barar and set out the next morning.
August 27, Year 3488 (SE 118)
The next day, the party arrive at the cave and immediately get to searching for the harpies, since they may have returned since the party was last there. The check all of the areas around the harpy lair, but they are not present. They conclude that the harpies must have fled.
They move on to the ledge that they spotted near the lizardfolk huts. They climb the ledge using the Rope of Climbing, and it leads to a short passageway leading the a small cavern containing a pool a water at the far end. Apart from the pool, the cavern is empty. Iriellis wades into the pool (which is only about one foot deep) and spots a gold ring at the bottom. It is not enchanted, but she pockets it anyway.
At this point, as far as anyone knows, the only spots left to search are the two large pools of water - the one near the lizardfolk huts and the one that several of them fell into while fighting the lizardfolk. Adokas starts from the huts and swims into the pool, trying to explore it as thoroughly as possible. He finds an underground passage that connects this pool with the other. Further, he finds a leather sack at the bottom of the pool, and drags it out for the party to inspect. Inside the sack are several hundred gold pieces, three rubies, and, most importantly, a golden symbol of a fist. It's the holy symbol of Kord, the object of their quest.
Though they now have what they need from the cave, they agree to help Tamat finish searching the area for the harpies. Adokas explores the other pool of water but finds nothing of interest, while the rest of the party collect the thumbs from the dead lizardfolk, so they can prove to the head merchant of Barar that the threat is dealt with. This completes their exploration of the caves, but they agree to help Tamat explore the nearby hills more thoroughly, in case the harpies are nearby.
They spent the rest of the day exploring the hills, with no success in finding the harpies. They conclude that they must have fled far away. In this case, they are likely no longer a threat to the area, so Tamat is satisfied.
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