The crow-man stops in the middle of his diatribe. "You're not going to kill me?" he asks, incredulously. "Who are you then? You're not cannibals and you're not pirates. Weird." He sighs. "So what do you want to know?"
I"Wait a second... who would these "other two" you think we should join be? Some other poor souls you stabbed to death? Or other non cannibal people living on this island? Think carefully... your life might depend on your answer!"
Hrakar stumbles in, suddenly excited.
The tengu looks offended. "I haven't stabbed anyone, except you and you intruded on my privacy. Those two were headed south along the path anyway a few days ago. They sure didn't look like cannibals. A Varisian woman there was and a sailor of some kind. She was obviously the one wearing the pants, as you humans call it, pointing and telling him where to go."
His description matches captain Kovack and Ieana pretty much exactly.
"Could you tell what they were talking about?" Torch asks, a grim expression settling across his face. He glances toward Surkoff and Hrakar, wondering if the paladin and cleric are having the same thoughts he is. His hand drifts unconsciously toward the hilt of his scimitar.
Surkoff raises an eyebrow inquisitively "They were here and she was in charge? So maybe it is not as we assumed? Could it be that Ieana is the one who caused the captain to run us aground? At least we know that they are still here and we are obviously not that far behind. Do we continue towards the small island or do we chase them down? I know that a safe and secure camp is important but my blood is awakened with fire at the thought of catching them."
"They weren't talking much. Looked pretty surly to me, they did."
Torch takes a deep breath, clearly attempting to calm his temper. "If they went through here a few days ago," he says, "there's not a lot of point in rushing off after them right this second anyway. We'd be tracking, not really following, and a few more hours' delay to rest and ready ourselves is probably worth it. As long as we head out before the rains tomorrow morning, the trail's probably going to be pretty similar to what we'd find tonight." Though he sounds like he's reasoning his way through it, Torch's expression hints that persuading him otherwise would not be difficult.
For a long moment Hrakar stands polexed as he realizes the man who sank him and the rest of his companions on the island has not died. For a longer moment his face grows from pale to bright read and he starts emitting short strangled noises, as if he wanted to say something but was unable to express his rage coherently. Then he explodes: DAMN THAT BASTARD TO TO THE 9 HELLS AND HIS B&$!$ TOO! I SWEAR I WON'T REST UNTIL THEY PAY FOR THEIR CRIMES IN BLOOD AND SUFFERING! WE WON'T LEAVE THIS ISLAND UNTIL THEY ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE! SO I SWEAR IN THE NAME OF TORAG THE WORLDMAKER!"
As he finished his tirade shaking his fist and with the veins on his neck thick as docking ropes it's pretty clear the dwarf is now seriously committed to get his revenge.
I take it you will rest for the night and then follow the trail south then, abandoning your plan to explore the islands?
"I am all for hunting down these traitors but keep in mind that we have others depending on us. The trail is already a few days cold so we will be days chasing where we think they might be going. I say we stick to the original plan, exploring the island for habitation and then once we have established a base there, proceed in the direction they were heading. But we all know that this isn't a dictatorship so lets hear what you others want."
For a moment, a small grin crosses Torch's face at something Surkoff said, but it disappears quickly as he addresses the central issue. "If we continue to the islands, we'll have lost our chance to follow them for all practical purposes. By the time we make it back here, odds are the trail will be gone entirely. At the same time, though, you're right - we need that secure location, and the logic that pointed us at the islands still seems to apply. I think we might have to choose here between survival and vengeance."
The dwarf face darkens considerably at his companion's words: "Let's choose Vengeance then! Survival is a distant hope at best anyway, I'd rather be certain those betrayers pay for what they did!"
As he finishes it's clear Hrakar is still shaking with anger.
Torch looks down to see that he is gripping the hilt of his scimitar with a white-knuckled fist. With a deliberate movement, he lets go and flexes his fingers. "No. Survival is still the most important goal; living well is the best revenge, and if we get off this island and leave Ieana and Kovack to rot with the cannibals, I'll call that good revenge indeed," he says heavily. "We should stick to our plans. Once we have a more defensible basecamp set up, though, I'd be just fine with the idea of coming back to make a stab at following these tracks."
"Looks like revenge will have to wait Hrakar." Surkoff then turns his attention back to the birdman. "As you can see, we are not into wanton slaughter and although you did wound my companion seriously, we were invading your place. No matter how Hrakar feels about it I will not harm you further. How long have you been here? How did you get here? What happened to any companions you had? Can you tell us more about the island and some of the dangers that lurk here?"
Hrakar looks in disbilief from Surkoff to Torch and back then he roars "Humans!" in an exasperated tone and exits the strange cabin with an angry stride
Torch opens his mouth to say something as the dwarf leaves, but nothing comes out. Touching the tips of his slightly pointed ears, the half-elf shrugs and turns back to listen to the tengu's words.
Ralf watches the conversation with the kenku with interest and vaguely comments: "I wonder if those folks back at the camp are getting worried about us. Maybe we better head back once we finish talking to this fella."
The tengu hasn't got that much more to tell. He got here on the Crow's Tooth, which wrecked on the island and can be found to the west if you care to explore it. He was a close friend of its captain Eraka Zoventai, a bright red tengu that gave him his treasured sabre (could he please have it back). Alas, the captain perished with the rest of the crew at the hands of the cannibals. He is himself not very afraid of the cannibals (they eat humans, right? Although he is sure he would taste delicious).
Apart from the cannibals he hasn't really seen many large predators (although he seldom travels far from his crab home), but some nights he has heard the sound of large wings flapping above. He knew better than to peek out, though.
"Would you like off this place? If you assist us with finding and capturing these two folks we will offer you passage off, assuming some can be found of course."
"Yes, sure I can help you if you give me back my sabre. Please?"
You reach the tip of the Shiv without incident, and as the tide is out, a 400-foot-long swath of slippery, seaweed-covered rocks lies exposed to the air most of the time, allowing creatures to move from the main island to the smaller island to the northwest with relative safety.
To your left you spy the wreck of the Crow's Tooth in the distance, just as the bird-man said. Ignoring it for now and crossing to the first small island, you soon find that there is nothing much on it.
Another causeway leads to the next island, and since the tide is still out you can cross it if you like. The island looks quite ominous, though, for whereas the rest of Smuggler’s Shiv is a luscious green and a riot of jungle sounds, this island is a silent gray scar on the horizon. From afar, the island may look as if it is covered with trees, but up close the “trees” are revealed to be foul gray stalks of fibrous fungus, growing up into the air almost like stalagmites in a cave. Between these weird stalks, the “undergrowth” consists of thick wiry tangles of lichens and gray fungus, all growing on a foul-smelling muddy surface. With the exception of the waves crashing along the beaches, the island is eerily silent.
Knowledge (dungeoneering or nature) 20:
Do you still want to go there?
Torch studies the fungus-covered island warily. "Now that's not something you see every day," he observes dryly. "Not sure we want to head straight into that - we might poke around a bit on this island first, in hopes that we find a good spot here for camp."
It hasn't been easy to convince Hrakar to not pursue the captain and his ally. The only reason he has agreed is he knows, deep down, he's not going to suceed if he stumbles along the jungle alone. Even so it's a pretty disgruntled dwarf the one tagging along towards the island...
Bah! Would you please move?!? Any second we waste in this silly exploration is a second stolen from our righteous revenge!
Ralf yawns. "I'm getting a mite tired. Maybe we should scout around for some grub and then set up camp."
Survival to look for food:
Ralf not only finds a good spot to set up camp, he also finds some roots that are surprisingly nutritious. But there is still some daylight left, probably enough to scout out the fungal island if you'd like to.
Surkoff:
"Let's get to that damn chunk of rock and mold people! We have some time left before dark and it would be nice if we could be done with exploration and focus on more serious tasks... like bringing those two betraying sows to justice"
So saying Hrakar starts to move towards the island urging the others to follow
Wary, but his curiosity piqued, Torch readies his blade and follows after the dwarf.
Regardless, as you make your way through the strange fungal growth, a pair of small, hunched figures, their bodies the same color as the omnipresent fungi, emerge and attack you with some kind of crude spears.
Roll for initiative.
Knowledge (nature) or (dungeoneering) 12:
"Vegepygmies!" Torch calls out. "Must've been created by the mold on the island!"
Once he finally notices them, Ralf lets out a low whistle. "Well I'll be...what the devil are those little creatures?"
init:
"Facing overgrown mushroms instead of chasing justice... this feels so wrong..."
Initiative:
The monsters go on 18, so Torch can act first, then the plant folk.
Torch delays and the plant creatures attack. Hrakar is stabbed for 6 points of damage.
You are up.
Torch steps toward the nearest vegepygmy and tries to cut it down.
Ralf totters forward and tries to whack one with his walking stick.
Hrakar withdraws so he's out of the monsters' reach
Surkoff delays. Torch cuts down own of the fungal creatures, while Hrakar steps back. Ralf takes a feeble swing at the remaining monster, while it stabs him for 2 points of damage.
And you are up again.
Torch turns on the remaining vegepygmy, hoping to end the battle quickly.
Hrakar sends a burst of healing towards his companions
Channel Energy (heal):
Torch cuts down the last vegepygmy, and Hrakar heals your wounds.
They don't carry much loot, but their spears seem to be made out of wreckage, indicating that there may be a ship wrecked on the island.
The question remains, will you go left, right or towards the middle of the island?
Ralf looks at the dead vegepygmies.
"Say...these fellers are made out of plants, it looks like. I wonder if...nah." He decides not to bring up the idea of making a salad.
Ralf begins wandering off to the left.
The vegepygmy tracks zigzag seemingly purposelessly among the fungi, and Torch soon gives up trying to follow them. Ambling along the western coast, you eventually come upon a grisly sight ahead. An ancient wreck lies wedged between a pair of rocks here, yet despite its age, the ruined sailing ship at first seems in relatively good condition. The ship has no color to its lines, and is completely covered in a layer of soft gray mold. Even its sails appear fully intact, although what hangs from the spars is not canvas but sheets of thick, pale fungus. Several thick ropes of fungus connect the ship’s upper deck to the island almost like crude rope bridges.