Percy's Log - Day 29 - Part II

After waiting in the building for what felt like a week one of the Aarakocra spoke of us getting cleansed before meeting with the priestess of the monastery. To be honest I didn’t much mind the wait the view from there was amazing and seeing the bird folk fly off from time to time made me envy their freedom to take to the skies.
Anyways we followed the monk through the dining hall and into another building that housed the cleansing chamber. The chamber itself was little more than a bath house with a large basin with smaller tubs aside filled with salt, powdered chalk, and golden dust. Above the chamber was a room that had a shelf lined with candles and a worn out statue dedicated to Ubtao much like the rest of the temple, even the Aaracokra seem to have mazes painted onto their beaks… it’s really all quite fascinating.
One by one we descended into the cleansing chamber, Azzaun suggested that Xandala and Arden just enter together and while his words were rather blunt it made sense given the two have grown fairly close. The two in question however were quite red faced and before much could be said Arden took off into the cleansing chamber himself. Eventually we all did the same and I must say we looked good. I myself felt renewed while this was the cleanest and shiniest I have ever seen Tavaquik on our journey I must say he looked rather dapper.
Dressed for the part we were taken back to the initial building where the Aarakocra painted our skin to reflect the mazelike designs of the temple that would no doubt please Ubtao himself. Afterwards we were made aware of a man who arrived at the temple two days ago looking more human than bird we had our suspicions that this could be the man Xandala tasked us to find. He was an adventurer after all and sure enough upon reaching the top of the stairs we were witness to an argument of said man being here for a while awaiting an audience with the priestess.
Zamisi who at this point must have been extremely eager to finally meet with her friend pushed past Xandala and Tavaquik and into the room, we followed right behind her as she instantly began confronting the guard that resided in the room to let her pass. She was coming off a tad unreasonable to say the least, very unlike the Zamisi we have come to know, but no doubt she desperately wanted to make sure that her friend was safe. The monk who finally had the chance to speak up told us that we were expected and that the priestess wanted to speak with us. The man in the room was displeased with us being seen before him, and we soon learned he was indeed the adventurer Artus Cimber who Xandala wanted us to find… only she told us that he was her father but Artus seemed to very much believe that he was not despite is sexual escapades. Truthfully we may not ever know if she really intended to find her “father” or not given the current state she’s in, the poor girl. Upon hearing Cimber say he was not her father, Xandala rushed out of the room, with Arden close behind.
The rest of us remained in the room and spoke with Artus, and although he calls himself an explorer he didn’t seem to have much to say in the way of known accomplishments or at least any he was willing to share. We learned that departed within the Chultan jungles to seek out something he had lost a long time ago and was now seeking an oracle here to… find an oracle somewhere else… to find the item he truly seeks. This other oracle he seeks was to be found in a place called Orolunga and he was here to find out where exactly that was. We also learned that the Lizardman that Xandala spoke of was his traveling companion and that he wasn’t with him because he had left to take care of something his name according to Artus is…. Dragonbait. Not sure if that’s true or some sort of nickname Artus gave us either way, I’ll be sure to ask his name before hand to be sure.
I was able to convince the monk to allow Artus to visit with the priestess; in exchange Artus said he’d speak to Xandala to comfort her about the predicament of her parentage. We still don’t know the truth of why she may have wanted to find him but having our party in the right mind is ultimately for the best. The monk led us through the door and passed a house that belonged to the royal family, dead ahead was the home of the priestess and upon its upper balcony we were all witness to what looked to be a young Aarakocran boy who had just activated a small flying device that began zooming around the monastery before losing power and falling to the cliff side below. Before we had a chance to call up to him, the boy scattered away into the building as we continued towards it.
Upon entering the building there was a sleeping Aarakocra next to a statue, the statue itself appeared to be that of a Tabaxi wearing a floral coat of some sort. I asked Zamisi if she recognized it and she was quick to point out that this was Ubtao in one of his favorite forms before he decided to lay his head in Chult. During that discussion the Aarakocra awoke and introduced himself as Yingmatona he told us that he takes care of Lady Asharra's every need and that the priestess was waiting for us upstairs. We headed up the stairs minding a giant hole in the center of the floor… it’s no wonder Mwaxanare’s father fell to his death in a place like this.
Making it to Lady Asharra's room we were greeted by a much older looking Aarakocra, she has the presence of one who would have many stories of her own to share. I must remember to speak with her about such things at some point. She thanked us for saving Nephyr and Zamisi asked to see her missing friend this led to Asharra simply gesturing to her right towards another room. Zamisi ran running towards the room and met up with a very pale looking woman with white hair in some blue and white robes. Zamisi scolded her for running off without telling anyone but Taaffa reassured her that she came of her own free will and that it was because she had a dream of powerful darkness within the deep parts of the jungle and that she heard that the last descendants of the royal family of Chult lived here at the monastery. Taaffa seems awfully sure that to stop the encroaching darkness she’d need the help of Princess Mwaxanare and for her to take her place as Queen.
Not soon after Zamisi’s reconnection, Arden spoke up about the room being cramped given how large our party was and the priestess agreed and asked Taaffa to help us to the top. As Taaffa passed by we were met with a slight breeze as it flew passed us like a small gust of wind. Upon gathering the royal family and meeting everyone down stairs Taaffa summoned an air elemental that lifted us up into the sky. Though the experience was quite bizarre it wasn’t unpleasant… I did have a small chuckle to myself at the thought of Azaka being with us at this time though… haha.
Hmmm yes... Anyways once the air stabilized beneath our feet as some sort of makeshift floor I approached the princess and the prince who I recognized to be the boy who was fiddling with the air contraption earlier, it seems their feathery clothing is what led to my initial confusion for him being Aarakocra. I bowed of course as it customary and most of everyone followed suit, only Tavaquik and Azzaun remained standing, always one to try and maintain etiquette among nobility I made sure to apologize for their lack of respect by stating that they lack experience partaking with royalty such as themselves. On the tail end of our party I heard Artus murmuring about something to Taaffa but I couldn’t quite make it out before I was being addressed by the Princess.
She asked me where I hail form and of course I told her of the great city of Baldur’s Gate, and although she had heard of it she was under the impression it was simply a settlement and not the amazing city it is today. Before addressing that, I noticed her brother Na was being very shy almost hiding behind his sister and occasionally peaking out. I addressed his weariness by stating that there was no need for that and that I quite enjoyed seeing his flying device that he had launched. This seemed to have pleased him and I asked if he had built it himself, his nodding would suggest that he did. Quite a talented lad, I would have showed him what I built but I don’t think handing the small boy a firearm would be such a good idea haha.
She asked me why we were here. I didn’t wish to be the only one from our party to present themselves to these folks so I nodded towards Arden who spoke up about the death curse and the item we searched for in the jungle called the Soulmonger. Princess Mwaxanare told us she’d be able to help us find the location we seek if we were to aid her in obtaining relics that would help her regain her status in Chult and put her on the right track to becoming the queen she was meant to be. I agreed with the proposition as it served us both equally in our mission and I can’t say I haven’t been enjoying seeing these fantastical lands, but I suppose Tavaquik wasn’t so trusting in the princess’ proposition as without even saying anything she looked at him and the look Tavaquik had on his face seemed to have fade as he said “I did, but I don’t any longer.”. With the Princess not looking as confused as the rest of us I can only imagine there is more to her than we truly know.
She told us the first relic presided in Ka-Nanji or Nangalore an ancient garden that was built in honor of a Queen Zalkore, the relic in question is that of what she referred to as the Evermaze a talisman of sorts made from fine gold. Just as I was saying that it sounds like a fine gift from Ubtao himself she was saying that it indeed was a gift from the god that has been handed down. Lady Asharra also mention that in order to do the dance of the seven winds, a scared ritual that would bless us with the ability to sore in the skies ourselves, we would need to obtain a black orchid to perform it. The bird folk also said they would supply us with canoes that we could use to reach the gardens at a quicker pace, but that dangers lurk there in the ways of giant black and white birds that Arden was able to identify as Eblis that are very much hostile but clever enemies that enjoy torturing their prey. After agreeing to obtain the orchid as well the Princess invited us to dinner within her home. Obviously I accepted.
I recovered my original attire and with the help of the magic feather we found in the Orcish cave I was able to clean up quite nicely before dinner. During dinner we learned of plenty, for one that Mwaxanare was gaining most of her knowledge from ancient texts which is why her information seemed dated and two Asharra knew where to find Orolunga the location of which Artus was searching for his oracle. I took it upon myself to try and explain that information that Mwaxanare received was outdated but Asharra attempted to stop me. I explained that if she was to be a fine queen she needed to be aware that this knowledge existed and to learn it, Mwaxanare agreed along with the rest of our party. During the rest of the dinner we tried our best to explain what we could Artus was also able to ease Xandala’s mind on her not being his daughter. After dinner we headed to bed.