KHAZUUL

Sow frowns sourly at Flint as the man voices his concerns and opinions just as Freki is about to test his theory, and his skepticism brings a louder voice from the woman than he's ever heard. It's still strained, that voice, but the girl clearly feels strongly about the topic.

"And what if Freki is right?" she calls from the doorway to the magical place. "What if it shrinks and can fit in a pocket! Think of how we could use this in the rains! Think of how much it could be worth!"

Then, nodding at her equally curious companion, the little brunette backs off to both give him room, and also look at the edges of the structure and its foundations -- trying to determine how long it might have been in place...

"Won’t someone have to be inside to dampen the fire?" Cutwell asks, with a a finger in his ear. "What happens to them then? If the place gets small all of a sudden, I mean."

Sow examines the base of the building. The structure is on top of a huge rock that has become an impromptu island in the flood. Looking at where the stone bricks make contact with the rock, it is clear that the foundation does not extend into the rock, but rather the building sits atop of it. This is revealed where the rock is not perfectly flat, where gaps between the rock and the base of the building form.

Saffron has been very quiet this whole time. The stranger and his victims seem to have shaken her.

"If it is powerful, better that the righteous claim it, for if not, then the wicked surely will."

Crouching low to examine how the building rests on the stone, Sow calls up to Freki, with some alacrity.

"I think you're right, Freki! The building but rests on this flat stone, it's not built into it! But what Cutwell says is true! We should be clear of it when the fire goes out!"

"Don't worry too much Flint. Whatever that was broke the "Laws." As long as we don't eat any one I think we'll be safe from that devilry," Freki tries to assure the Marchguard and then adds, "Besides, if you're scared of a little magic and mystery, then I think you've come to the wrong part of the world." He smiles with a wink at the big blonde to show he's teasing him.

Responding to Cutwell's question Freki explains his plan, "I thought we could remove the remaining wood a bit at a time with wet sticks until the place shrinks just enough to crawl out, then I'll use my tarp to block the entrance, snuffing out the flame. It might take a few minutes, but I think it might work. What do you think?"

After thinking about it for a few more minutes he has another idea, "Or I could tie my rope to the end of a log and put the other end in the brazier. Once it's alight, we remove the rest and get out. I'll pull that last log out with the attached rope from outside the doorway."

Sow merely nods as she comes to the man's side, ready to help after setting aside her pack, spear, shield and nerves.

Flint merely nods at Freki's teasing, offering his help though reluctantly.

"Tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it."

Hearing Sow's discovery and her enthusiasm to help makes him think he might be right! He gladly takes Sow and Flint's offer to help and delegates responsibilities.

"Flint, stand back from the structure and as it changes size give us a shout to let us know where we're at. 10 is still full size, 1 is just enough room for me to squeeze out."

"Sow, hold the end of this rope and give it tension so the log doesn't fall all the way into the brazier."

Freki lights the other end and stokes the flames to get them bright and then uses his shield to scoop out the rest of the partially burnt logs, listening to Flint in case it shrinks faster than he thinks and needs to make a run for it.

Once the only log left is the one with the rope Sow is holding, he exits and tells her to pull it out.

Freki carries out his plan. The building sags and shrinks as the fire goes out. At that moment, the space around the building bends in an unnatural way, and the Ruin disappears.

The distortion rebounds back to normal, and when you inspect the space, there is a tiny version of the relic sitting on the rock, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Any material that you put inside (including fuel) has been dumped onto the rock beside it.

If you pick it up, you notice the weight is neglible (counts as a petty item). In its roof is a metal ring that could be tied totie length of cord or a thin piece of chain. Looking inside, you see the tiny brazier is now unlit and the bronze hexagrams stare darkly at it, cloaked in shadows.

In the seconds after the strange distortion fades, Sow is on the ground, looking at the little shrine, her eyes wide and glowing with excitement.

"Freki! Freki, you were right! The whole building is magical! We have found a treasure beyond compare! A place to weather these storms!"

Cutwell looks at Flint, and shares a little bit of the skepticism over the thing. It seemed like a death trap waiting to be unwittingly sprung on someone. Still, the day had been grim enough, and the days before grimmer again. Flint hadn’t been there for that, and so Cutwell keeps quiet as the others celebrate the groups big win.

After a while, he continues with a contented sigh, as the sun beats down on him:

"Which ways which? Where are we going now then?"

Flint called out what he deemed to be the correct sizes, his nerves jangling with Freki inside the shrinking ruin, and then the thing was done.

He returns Cutwell's skeptical look but damn if the structure didn't change size before his very eyes. Not one to dwell on those things he didn't understand he would be happy to be shut of the place.

"Anywhere but here," he replies.

Freki stares with an amazed look as he sees the structure transform before his eyes. He laughs in disbelief at Sow's exclamation, "Huh, yeah, it actually worked!" Even though he had teased Flint about the magic, he had not actually experienced anything like this before. Suddenly all the rumors and stories that he'd heard were swirling in his head and he felt a bit overwhelmed, but it didn't last long as he joins Sow to celebrate and check out the now tiny miniature.

He picks up the little relic and is surprised how light it is. Recognizing Sow's interest in it, he hands it to her and says, "Here you go, Kiddo. Keep it safe for us."

"I guess we should continue to head north to find Saffron's book," Freki replies to Cutwell.

Taking the tiny building in her small hands, Sow has a smile on her face wider than any of them have ever seen her wear, and she draws relic to her chest warmly. "I..." she starts falteringly, "I... can't Freki. Was your -- your idea. You figured how it works!"

The woman's actions, though, don't follow the path worn by her words. Her grip on the thing is close, secure -- and soon enough she's tucked it away in some secret pocket or another.

"Thanks," she adds finally as she re-arms herself with her pack and weapons, her cheeks red at being called kiddo, and at Freki's kindness.

"Look at us." Cutwell starts, and it’s hard to keep the smile from his face. "Starting to find our feet out here, ain’t we?"

And, he noted in the moment, they hadn’t gone through the ceremony of bothering to make masks for themselves. He wondered if they would at all…

Flint grunts in agreement, glad to be leaving the place. He saw what he saw, and it was odd, and it had awakened something in Sow; an almost childlike excitement. Even Freki was excited about their discovery. He wished he wasn't so jaded and more like the girl, but he had seen too much and knew too much. Perhaps she would enable him to see a more wondrous side of the world someday.

"Maybe," he replies to Cutwell.

Sow pockets the shrunken sanctum. Its weight is neglible, but Sow can feel it, drawing her thoughts toward it, like a magnet. The tug is not overly distracting, but it is constant.

The company resumes their journey, heading northward. The jungle, made ever more chaotic by the storm, presents new obstacles. Yet, beneath the sun's ray, Khazuul changes. The melodies of birds and wild cacophonies of beasts punctuate the air with newfound intensity. Light permeates the everything, glinting upon dew-laden foliage and dancing streams. Everything feels more full of full of life than ever.

The heat, however, does begin to rise. In the a sense of wind, the air grows thick and humid, and patches of dense mist begin to rise from Khazuul's rain-soaked roots.

Trying to stay to high ground to avoid the quagmires, you cross up and over a ridge that takes you above some of the canopy. You see in the distance, maybe two miles away, a large wooden fortification surrounded by farmland. Saffron indicates this is the Dreadwing's base of operations.

Despite the sun, Saffron seems quiet, moody. After another hour, as the first stars are emerging, she guides the company to the blackened, lightning-struck tree.

"Right, we don’t want to meet that lot, do we?" Cutwell says, and pulls the robe over his metallic arm in that moment. He wasn’t sure that news would spread quite so fast, given the rain and hard conditions, but news was traveling all the same.

"Anything we need to know?" he asks Saffron, stopping the group before they get too close. "You didn’t leave anything behind that might spoil my day, did you?" he continues, wondering if they had trapped the thing somehow!

Saffron shakes her head in response to Cutwell's cautious question. "No, I just dropped the sack I to that hole." She doesn't seem in a hurry to reach in and retrieve it, however.

The blackened tree stands, broken and barren, with a large orifice in its trunk facing you, large enough for someone small to squeeze into. Black marks streak along the mud at the base of the tree where the lightning seared the earth.