Return to Pokke Village
The Wandering Wyverians seen in the Land of Ice returned to Pokke Village to find that it had already been destroyed by the pack of Rajang, who had continued on their flight past the village. The party offered to help out and were given a quest to retrieve 5xNova Crystals and some scales from a Great Speartuna, bizzarely rare components for village repair. They also learned that the local low-level adventurer, Hammond, who would normally handle these quests, was missing. Nevertheless the group set out and with the help of the local expert fisher managed to catch the speartuna. They were having less luck with the Nova Crystals until they ran into Hammond, cornered by a group of Tigrex( attacking a herd of Gammoth.
After defeating the Tigrex, Hammond explained he was out looking for Bertrand, and ice cream maker from Pokke Village who had gone missing. After some discussion, the hunters agreed to swap quests; Hammond would finish looking for the Nova Crystals and the party would search for the missing ice cream man. After interviewing Hammond, the party learned that Bertrand specialized in making Khezu Whelp ice cream. Khezu are blind wyrvens with paralytic abilities that allow them to freeze prey to inject their young into them. These whelps eventually destroy their host; apparently, however, they can also be used when flavoring ice cream.
The party made their way to a cave that seemed like a prime habitat for Khezu in the hopes of finding Bertrand and instead found human footprints leading away; the footprints were quickly matched by a set of primate tracks. Concerned that the ice cream man was being hunted, the group followed the prints through a few different environments including one all out snowball fight; at one point the tracks split and the group followed the wrong path for a time before realizing their mistake and turning back around. Eventually they caught up to Bertrand, infested with Khezu whelps and near the corpses of some Guild Knights.
Before the party could help rid Bertrand of the whelps, he was dragged into a nearby cave by an adult khezu. The party charged in after him and defeated both the khezu. They then fixed a very grateful Bertrand up and sent him on his way back to the village- the party themselves stayed behind to investigate the ancient ruins they stumbled on in the cave. They worked their way through a riddle written in an ancient script to find themselves in a kind of memorial chamber where a few kirin had been making a pilgrimage. The back half of the pit was dominated by a large pit, while in the center was a large statue of a hooded figure wielding a notably short longbow with long ears and the lower half of a squid. The ceiling was painted with a memorial The kirin present in the room temporarily took control of Sadie to communicate and the two parties were easing into non-hostilities and trading questions when a pack of rajang appeared and began to attack both the party and the kirin. Working together, the two groups defeated the kirin.
The party also translated the text on the memorial, which read:
From the great machine came the crystals to bind you.
From the mountain in the stars came the legion to break you.
From the pit of fire came the abomination to watch you.
To each we did battle, and to wach we did fall.
We have failed, laughing one, treasured friend.
We dedicate this monument to you, not out of piety, but out of respect.
We miss you.
After the battle, the kirin explained that they did not hold with the views of the temple-builders. Rather, they had fought against them and came to commemorate the lives lost. They said something along the lines of the temple builders bound a chunk of themselves (one of themselves?) and thus exiled themselves from the temple, preventing the kirin from going home.
The group investigated the pit, finding it plummeted downward before turning to the horizontal and becoming a large tunnel. The tunnel eventually terminated in a cave-in. The party reascended and, after Zoop mined some of the kinship stones present, left the temple to return to Pokke village. On their way back, passing by a large sword, they came across a cult summoning Fatalis- successfully, it appeared.
Shortly thereafter, high-ranking members of the guild appeared and explained that it was dangerous for the party to know about the temple and Fatalis, so their memories needed to be wiped of both. After a little bit of discussion, the party agreed to the loss of the memories. Now somewhat confused about what was happening, they finished their return to Pokke village.
