Sanguinity

After a few days rest, you left Redstone with Kaseeh, a fellow wanderer who arrived as you convalesced. Traveling cross country to the next major town, you find that you have much in common, a general curiosity for adventure chief among them.

You are in a dry desert area with lots of crags and buttes. You heard an odd noise and follow it, and come upon a woman working frantically on a numenera device along the edge of a cliff.

Spread out before you, the land dips away into a few buttes and large, deep sinkholes that dot the landscape. Big, long-winged
birds fly overhead and below.

The woman is dressed in a silver suit and lots of gear that seems conducive to desert traveling, and it’s clear that she’s experienced with the device she’s working on.

She looks up at you with equal parts hope and suspicion, though she relaxes a little when she realizes you do not look like bandits.

"Well, hello." Raezhon's intonation is ambiguous, as if she herself isn't sure if its a greeting or a question. She still manages a smile try to look non-threatening.

Kaseeh raises a curious eyebrow, more interested in the numenera than the woman. Why would she try to repair it at such a precarious spot? Unless it's necessary... maybe it's a flying device! That would be impressive.

Raezhon's greeting snaps him out of his daydreaming and he turns to see the woman's reaction.

Not judging the woman to be a threat, Rohim simply listen to the conversation as he gazes down at the landscape spreading before, looking for any signs of possible ruins to scavenge for artefacts.

The woman responds, "Hello. I am Rodia. If you're the sort to do so, I could use some assistance."

The device looks like six plates, three stacked together on either end of a metallic pole that separates into two parts. The biggest plates on the end are about a cubit in diameter, and the pole is a good pace in length.

"We're definitely the 'assisty' sort, in fact, it's kind of what we do. How can we help?"

She looks grateful and says, "I am a priest of a village, and I and two other priests named Tesir and Molan make long treks from our respective villages to meet here every year. We come to worship Sanguinity and offer sacrifces to keep our villages safe and prosperous."

Gesturing at the device before her, she continues, "We perform a complex ceremony using this device, the Altar of the Sanguine, allowing our god to hear us and transport us to a nearby butte, where the god lives."

"This year, when I arrived, I found the equipment of the other two priests strewn about and the altar damaged. It looks to me like they might have started the ritual without me, although I doesn’t know why they would do so, and maybe now they cannot return?"

She has mostly been able to repair the altar, but it requires additional work, and two pieces are still missing.

If you agree to help her, she will happily include you in her ritual so that you can also worship and receive Sanguinity’s blessing of safety and prosperity.

Nim listens curiously and considers for a moment. Then having comfortably made his decision turns to the group and says "Well far be it from me to refuse a call to aid. I'm sure it can't be too difficult to repair this device. What do you all say?"

Rohim turns toward the priest and mentions in a calm voice : "There's a series of large, three-toed footprints lead toward the device and then away and a trail of silver circles in the dirt that look like metallic drops of blood lead away from the edge of the cliff. Any idea whose those could belong to? He points in the direction of the clues so that everybody can see it.

Raezhon turns to Kaseeh, and says in a quiet whisper, "Doesn't 'sanguine' have something to do with blood? Should we be nervous she wants to 'include us' in their ritual?"

Aduan recognizes that there are still pieces missing from the altar and begins looking through the loose dirt and rock along the cliffs edge. After a moment he turns and asks at large, "Has anyone checked the bottom of the cliff? It may be that the other priests were dropped or pushed off the edge."

Kaseeh nods at Raezhon's comment. "Let the others fill in if they want to. I'll pass" he whispers back, before raising his voice back to normal to add "I'm no good with repairs, but I can keep an eye out while you do your thing. Sounds to me like the other two were attacked."

"Without the missing pieces, the repair would be impossible. If you do want to help, pleas help me find the missing parts."

When shown the trail of footprints or the trail of metallic drops, she claims no knowledge. "I don't know what made those. Some local beast no doubt. Maybe it chased off Tesir and Molan!"

"No, it's not about blood. Sanguinity is what we call our multiplicity of gods, and this is just one altar where we can interact with one of them."

Looking over the cliff, Aduan can see to the bottom just fine, but doesn't see anything that might be the body of a person or any gear. Large colonies of long-winged, long-beaked birds constantly circle overhead and down below.

Just then, you hear a terrible howl, a bellowing sound that seems to make your very bones shudder. It is off to the side, further along the cliff in the direction of a copse of trees.

Rohim take a few steps in the direction of the terrible sound, slowing taking out his bow and fixes in gazes toward the trees in the distance.

"Well, my friends, I believe our first clue is calling."

The tracks lead from the cliff to the device and back.

The droplets lead away from the device to further away from the cliff (I.e., the opposite direction).

The direction to the copse of trees is further along the cliff, I.e., a third direction.

No, the tracks are much bigger than the birds would make.

Rohim is ready for a fight.