Abruptly, she remembers Terendelev's comment—it is no more urgent than it has been for the last hundred years—and connects it with the time that the first generation of crusaders was changed. These crusades have been active for almost twice as long as the Sapphire Guard has even existed, then, and dangerous enough to kill a celestial. In comparison, the issue of the Neathers is less serious, but—obviously still important to these children. And obviously related. It only makes sense that finding the sword will solve their problems.

"I'd be happy to try my hand at finding the sword."

She turns to Anevia, Camellia, and Seelah.

"I would appreciate any help you would be willing to lend, but—I can't actually compel you."

Because she "technically isn't party leader" on top of "not being a paladin anymore."

"I'm happy to help," Seelah says immediately. "Whatever help I can actually be, I mean. I'm not very smart."

Anevia's already squinting around. "Hmm. If I were going to hide a tomb somewhere in these caverns..."

Camellia looks at the party and... sighs heavily. "If everyone else is doing it, then the only thing refusing will do is force me to stand around doing nothing, which is even less interesting than looking under rocks for a sharp piece of metal."

See, Seelah gets it! Miko's a little annoyed at Camellia, but—she did say that she would help, and she's the one who'll be able to prepare a spell to let her leave on her own if she gets bored. So it's probably fine.

Now. How should she go about finding something like…

Oh.

Something like an angel's sword.

"I can detect Good within 60 feet. Does anyone have a spell or spell-like ability that can boost my range?"

"...no," Camellia says slowly. "But one of the things Stone Tell can do quite well is get information on nearby hidden chambers and passages. It's near-useless for navigation, because natural tunnels have lots of 'hidden' passages that go nowhere. But if there's one that has a good story, or at least a list of them and we just, ah, aim you at each..."

Miko nods.

"Yes, that would combine excellently! How long does the spell last, what's its range?"

"Minutes double circle - so, almost a quarter of an hour. And the range isn't the thing, I'll be talking to the stones and asking if any of them have air behind them or if they were moved from their current spot by human...oid hands."

"I see. Is there anything we need to do before you begin speaking with the stones, then?"

"Hmm. Be ready to move rocks, I suppose. I have Stone Shape, but I'm not wasting it on this; it's too likely to be useful later."

"Agreed—I have a +4 belt."

Also, the rocks probably won't be as delicate as the ones on Anevia were.

Camellia closes her eyes and sings a chant, then opens her eyes again and turns to the nearest rock. "How long is your memory, Brother Stone?" she murmurs. "Long enough, long enough. Where did they come, when many of them came - the beast-men, bearing a radiant thing? The radiant thing, older than you and your brothers? ...hm. Thank you."

She moves about fifty feet through the widening tunnel. She strokes a smooth wall there. "Sister, sister, do you remember? Did you hear? ...oh, good sister, please try... ah. Ahhh. Thank you. Thank you, dear sister."

She enters the chamber where Lann and Wenduag were first searching, and pats a great pile of stone along one wall. "Brothers, is it true? Did you stand here? Did you fall? Did they lift you up, were you tumbled down?" She pauses. "Oh, brothers, I am sorry. Thank you for your service, brothers."

She cuts the spell and gestures as her pupils return to their normal size. "These rocks were Stone Shaped, about a century ago, into a beautiful stone door. Then an illusion was put over it so no one could see the door unless they were worthy... or moderately good at seeing through illusions. Then, about four years ago, somebody came along and opened that door. They went inside, then came back out. And then they put a keg of Alchemist's Fire in the doorway, lit a wick, and walked away."

Expressive hand gesture. "Boom."

Well, that's not great. Presumably if the rocks had more detail than that Camellia would have already said.

"… I find it likely that the vandals also stole the sword, but I'll check anyway."

Detect Good?

There's Good, but... residual. Something beautiful was here, something holy and sacred, and now it isn't.

...there is something beautiful and holy and sacred nearby, though. She can kind of see it, like a torch held behind her back.

She's about to report that the sword has definitely been stolen when she picks up on the decidedly non-residual Goodness. She turns in place, trying to get a better look.

It's not in any of the cardinal directions.

…Down? Up?

Yeah, it's down. This chamber's floor is less rocky than the tunnels - there's patches where the floor is covered in dirt. Apparently, some of that dirt is thick enough to block Detect Good from anything other than a 90º angle.

She scuffs a 井 into the dirt with her foot.

"There's something down there. Does anyone have a shovel?"

… She might be "anyone," actually, given all the new equipment in her bag. Her pole probably won't do a very good job of digging, but there might be a trowel, at least. If nobody immediately volunteers to dig, she'll rifle through her bag again.

"My shield's good for it," Seelah says.

She chunks the tapered bottom of the shield into the dirt, wiggles it around, and levers out a decent pile. Then she does it again, and again. It's not as good as a proper shovel, but it's not bad by any means.

Seelah is great. Miko decides to look through her bag anyway and, if there isn't anything more shovel-y than Seelah's shield inside, kneels down so she can move rocks out of the way.

No, there's absolutely a shovel in there. It's really nice, too. Polished darkwood haft with a steel head and leather grips. Who makes a shovel out of darkwood?

Clearly she should have checked first.

"Thank you, Seelah, but apparently I had a shovel in my bag this whole time."

She extracts the shovel and gets to digging more efficiently.

Seelah gives way, wiping off her shield. "Part of being prepared for anything is knowing that you're prepared for it," she chuckles.