The party collects what they can and/or need to from the site of the battle, replenishing spent arrows and dragging bandit and horse corpses far enough off the trail that scavengers won't harass travelers. Healing is conducted as required, and they party continues uneventfully to their final planned stopping point, within a day's travel of their first planned stop at Calling Horns.
Flycatcher enjoys hunting small game and brings the party a veritable feast of small, fluffy creatures.
[OOC: You all get a long rest. Everyone gets back up to full HP with healing, hit dice]
The first part of the next day's morning travel is also uneventful, but in the late morning hours, there's a slight difference in the scenery.
Through a break in the trees up ahead, you catch sight of an awe-inspiring sight - an ancient ruin standing majestically on the horizon. It's off the road but not too much of a detour to head directly towards it if the party desires. The ancient stonework rises high above the treeline, its weathered, towering walls whispering tales of a bygone era, perhaps one of the ruins mentioned by the giantess yesterday.
Whisper heads off to survey the castle as the party continues on their path, returning to offer Jaliera a vision.
There do not appear to be any hostile creatures nearby, just the usual forest woodland dwellers. The ruin is an ancient tower, crumbling enough that entry looks easy enough.
The walls do look covered by several large murals, although Whisper's images don't give any real detail of what might be on them. They'd probably be of interest to historians in the group.
Zindra She watches Whisper start to fly, reach the limit of Jaliera's vision and then return. As the owl was still on it's way back, she asks Jaliera, "So what did you see?"
Then she added, "I'm always curious about what challenges and opportunities I pass up."
Without saying it in so many words, her intent is clear. She wants to check out the ruins.
"It might be worth a look at these murals. Might learn something useful. I can always send Whisper in again if we are a bit nearer and watch through her eyes. That would give us more information for least risk."
The noble scholar nodded in the human fashion as Jaliera described Whisper's findings. "Risk aside, I'd quite like to take a look for myself, there's a fair few things in this vicinity that I can imagine being worthy of artistic commemoration."
The Dragonborn strode forward towards the ruin, Glassstaff recalled to hand with a thought.
The ruins and how nature is slowly taking over the grounds is of more interest to him than just the murals. "Seems a quiet enough place to take a look at."
He dismounts from one of the bandits horses he took from yesterday. Normally he does not ride but he wanted to care for the couple of horses that were injured in the fight from yesterday. With the horses reins in hand, he will walk the rest of the way to the ruins while keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
The party approaches the ancient ruins, the towering stone walls weathered by centuries of time and nature's embrace. As they enter the tower's interior, they are greeted by a mesmerizing sight - a faded mural spanning the entire chamber, depicting the epic Thousand Year War between dragons and giants.
The mural is divided into several parts, each telling a different chapter of the ancient conflict. The first section shows stars falling from the sky, crashing into the surface of Toril, and from the impact, majestic dragons emerge, soaring into the heavens with newfound power.
In the second part, a massive red-scaled dragon stands at the forefront, leading a fearsome army of dragons against a towering city of giants. The sky crackles with magic and the fury of battle.
The third part portrays a scene of epic struggle, where an army of united giants clashes fiercely with the dragons. Despite the giants' courage, it seems the dragons have the upper hand, their immense power overwhelming their adversaries.
In the fourth part, a skilled fire giant is depicted at his forge, hammering away to create a towering construct to aid in the giants' defense against the dragons. The giant construct, fueled by the fire giant's craftsmanship, stands tall and imposing, ready to face the fearsome dragon horde.
In the fifth part, the colossal construct unleashes its might, blasting lasers from its ruby eyes, striking down dragons with devastating precision. The dragons falter, their pride momentarily humbled by the powerful construct's onslaught.
The last part of the mural reveals an unexpected twist to the conflict. A massive giant and an equally imposing dragon are shown playing a some sort of strategy game.
[OOC: If you wish, DC 15 intelligence (History) check to identify the game.]
[OOC: All players, Wisdom (Perception) roll please.]
Kriv had been intently studying the mural, but as a student of both history and strategy, he had something of an advantage when it came to identifying it. When he was certain, he duly explained.
He stayed out of other people's way but carefully looked over the array of murals. Though pieces of art often depicted things from a singular point of view and thus might be biased, this so far seemed very interesting.
History 20, Percept CRIT 26! Sindar History, Perception Pandemonium rolled 1d20+3,1d20+6 and got 20, 26
The initial few to study the mural's last pane didn't recognize the game involved, but given its position in the mural it seems this particular game played a significant role in the conflict. Was the whole war just a game between higher powers? Did the war end with a challenge between champions? Do Giants or Dragons have a particular game they just both love to play? Might winning such a game earn players favors from either dragons or giants (or the opposite?). Or is it just art?
Kriv and Sindar had been looking at the other murals but when they get to the last panel, they both recognize the game in the mural as Wah-ree, an ancient abstract strategy board game. The mural may have even jogged their memory that it was said popular among giants, and may have been the game yesterday's giantess was gambling at when she lost her mask in a wager.
Sindar, as an artist, would likely recall bits of some song or another roughly telling the same epic story of the Thousand Year War as the murals do, with the final verse indicating that the respective deities of the giants and dragons agreed to settle the Thousand Year War by playing this game, and were both so skilled that the play ended in a stalemate. According to the truce, the war ended and the dragons were permitted to keep the territory they had conquered from the giants.
And it's not just art. Arus is the first to see something unusual, and his attention on the game board draws Bern and Jaliera to both look at what he's noticed. One of the pieces on the game board looks strikingly similar to the rune-engraved stone the party recovered from the sword the day before... except with a different symbol engraved.
Sindar additionally would notice that the rune stone embedded in the board does look removable, if anyone dares to touch it.
Unlike the sword, there are no obvious effects around this stone, the mural panel, or the entire castle.
Yet, at least.
The mural slowly begins to light up with the glow of.... the sun as it rises above one of the ruined walls. It's not very colorful, faded with age. It must be thousands of years old.
"These murals align with a tale I heard in a song. It talked about how the Dragons and Giants had done so much damage to each other and didn't want the conflict to continue the way it was going. They agreed to play a strategy game called Wah-ree to settle the conflict."
He bends closer "I also believe that this particular stone with the rune on it might be removable. Though I have no idea if that is safe or not."
"That seems to be how the histories tell it. Wah-ree is an interesting abstraction of strategy, not too difficult to learn the basics but with great depth. Given its significance, I'd say try it."
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]![[Linked Image from static.wikia.nocookie.net]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/8/83/Wah-ree.png)
The initial few to study the mural's last pane didn't recognize the game involved, but given its position in the mural it seems this particular game played a significant role in the conflict. Was the whole war just a game between higher powers? Did the war end with a challenge between champions? Do Giants or Dragons have a particular game they just both love to play? Might winning such a game earn players favors from either dragons or giants (or the opposite?). Or is it just art?![[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]](https://i.ibb.co/Fbv2f1v/oie-Ht-PK2-B7j-W5z0.png)
And it's not just art. Arus is the first to see something unusual, and his attention on the game board draws Bern and Jaliera to both look at what he's noticed. One of the pieces on the game board looks strikingly similar to the rune-engraved stone the party recovered from the sword the day before... except with a different symbol engraved.