As you set up camp to rest for the morning, Ishirou, who has been helping to carry Jask's body, sets aside a place to lay the body down. He carefully removes stones and flattens the ground as best he can, then helps to put Jask there.
"Should we bury him?" he asks.
"We have the scroll we found on the island," Douena says tentatively, "but he was already weakened by age and would come back weaker still. I've heard," she looks at Makoa hopefully, "that druids can make a whole new body to bring a person back in ... although you never know what you're going to get until you see it." The flash of excitement in her eyes suggests this is an added inducement rather than a drawback. "If we could find one of them," she turns her hopeful gaze to Shokambe, "he could start a whole new life -- and the government back in Sargava wouldn't even know to look for him or what kind of person they were looking for, if they wanted to cause him any more trouble. If we could find a druid, would we need to carry all of him with us, Makoa, or only a bit of him?"
"I am not quite the one to ask. I thought I was seeing phantom wolves, remember? Maybe a small part, like a tooth, would work. If he doesn't want to come back though..."
"Why wouldn't he want to come back?" Douena asks, looking a little hurt. "Don't you think he misses us? We're very likeable."
"Some people just... don't come back, no matter how long you wait or want them to." He replies, gazing at the sky briefly.
"It's not that he wouldn't. You know that magic isn't the answer to everything and you need to know what could happen."
"There are many druids in these parts," Shokambe says. "However, while I know a few of them, I do not know if any of them are powerful enough to do what you want. My suspicion is that few, if any, of them are. Nonetheless, I do know a man near the Lake of Vanishing Armies who would not be too far out of our way. I cannot promise he can help, but even if he can't, perhaps he knows someone who can."
Douena squeezes Shokambe's hand in gratitude but lets someone else handle the task of removing a tooth from Jask's rapidly-stiffening corpse.
"In case he chooses not to come back," Sasha says, "maybe we should just take a bit of him with us and bury him here before he rots. Or we could use that scroll on him instead of looking for a druid."
"I'll put word out to keep an eye out for that girl," Cheiton says. He points to the captive. "What should we do with him?"
Spellcraft which gives him the best chance at making it.
"We need to give him the best chance that we can."
"In case he chooses not to come back," Sasha says, "maybe we should just take a bit of him with us and bury him here before he rots. Or we could use that scroll on him instead of looking for a druid."
"I-- I'm not sure I can cast that spell," Douena admits self-consciously. "I can read it, but.... Jask knows a lot more about spells than me. If we needed the scroll... I've been counting on Jask to cast it."
Sasha frowns slightly, but nods. "Then I guess we look for a druid." She looks down at Jask's immobile form. "We should bury him then."
Ishirou nods. He kneels down beside Jask and pauses for a moment. Then he takes a deep breath, reaches into Jask's mouth and rips out a tooth. He holds out the tooth to Douena. "I will dig a hole."
Urza helps dig the hole.
Working together, it doesn't take very long to dig a grave for Jask. It's not very deep, but it will suffice. The sun is beating heavily overhead as you lower Jask's body into it, but somehow the heat doesn't really penetrate the gloom. Once the body is in place, everyone turns to Douena to say a few words.
"I don't suppose there are suitable authorities and laws in place to cope with this situation? That would be ideal. Otherwise I shall bow to your choice Cheiton."
Mahjik face brightens for a moment, then darkens, "You don't suppose the contact you found for me is a trap, do you?"
Ishirou nods. He kneels down beside Jask and pauses for a moment. Then he takes a deep breath, reaches into Jask's mouth and rips out a tooth. He holds out the tooth to Douena. "I will dig a hole."
Douena blanches at the violence done to her friend's body but quietly accepts the tooth, wrapping it up with her most valued possessions: her thieves' tools, model of the Jenivere, and Captain Duck.
When everyone's eyes turn to her after Jask is laid in the grave, she sighs, none of the enthusiasm visible that she bestowed on earlier funerals. "Since we landed on the Shiv, I've said a lot of funerals," she begins. "For the first mate and the cook first, and while I appreciated what Alton Devers did for us, I didn't really know him very well; Mahjik and Makoa knew them most. Then there were lots of undead and some cannibals, and then I had to say a funeral for Aerys, too." She glances at Urza. "And I didn't really know her very well, either. We were so busy exploring and fighting things and trying to find a way off the island, and she had her own private issues she was dealing with, and then she was suddenly gone. But Jask," she sniffles, "Jask was my friend. He took care of people when they were sick, and he taught me things about healing and about ... priesty things. People who didn't even know him were going to kill him for no reason in Eleder, and Lorenz saved him, and now it doesn't even matter because more people who didn't even know him killed him for no reason in Kalabuto," she concludes bitterly. "Everyone else I've buried, I've asked you to speed their journey, Desna, but for Jask, I'm asking you to wait. I think his journey lies alongside ours a while longer. So nudge him into a calm, quiet inlet where the stars whirl and eddy and settle back down again in about the same place, and then send him back to us. A new face, a new life, but the same friend."
When Douena has finished her speech, Ishirou wipes a tear from his eyes and begins the work of filling in the grave. He remains silent throughout.
Sasha remains quiet throughout the funeral, her eyes slowly filling with tears. When Douena has finished, she wipes her eyes, hugs Lorenz tightly, then begins helping Ishirou to fill in the grave.
When that's done, she sits down by the edge of the camp. Alton flies down and lands beside her, and she begins to stroke his neck. "This better be one damn amazing city we're going to," she mutters.
"I didn't know him as well as the rest of you," Shokambe says after the funeral is over, "but what I saw I liked. I hope I can help you find a way to bring him back."
At the question of the contact being a trap, he frowns worriedly for a moment, then shrugs. "I doubt it. At the time I was making that contact, your enemies probably figured you were already as good as dead. I'm sure they didn't plan for their raid to fail. Of course, that's assuming you only have one set of enemies." He frowns again.
"That was wonderful, Douena. If he heard what you've said, I'm sure he's very proud."
She manages a small smile as she leans her head against Makoa's large hand. "Maybe if he heard me, it'll make him want to wait for us to call him back."
"Let us hope." After several moments of silence, Urza adds, "I will go tend the fire."
Around midmorning, he heads out with the prisoner in tow to hand him over to local authorities, leaving Mahjik to his own devices. As noon approaches, Mahjik heads to the Shrunken Head tavern. It's relatively quiet there at this time of day. There are no dancers performing yet, and only a few patrons drinking and eating meals. The patrons include a pair of dwarves chatting quietly at the bar, a Zenj man sitting by himself at one of the large tables, a Chalaxian man and woman sitting at one of the smaller tables, and another Zenj man at another of the small tables with his head down on the table apparently passed out. He's snoring softly.
A serving woman comes over to Mahjik as he enters and asks if she can get him anything while he takes a seat.
Mahjik frowns inwardly as he surveys the scene. Unsure if he's already missed any cues he gives everything a second glance, before settling down to appreciate the sense of run-down Mwangi decadence that the Shrunken Head had become.
At the appointed time, Urza is ready to continue their journey. "There will be others coming. We need to get going."
After the few hours of sleep everyone can catch after digging the grave and filling it back in, Douena wakens with a shudder, a hopeful look, and then a sigh. "I was dreaming Jask was dead," she explains sadly, "and then I woke up and was glad that awful dream was over, but then I remembered he's dead when I'm awake, too."
"It's okay, Douene. We're going to try to bring him back."
You manage to get a few hours of sleep over the afternoon before continuing on partway into the evening, then stopping for the night.
The next two days journey would be pleasant if it weren't for all the mud and the aura of Jask's death still hanging over you. You follow the river eastward for that time and manage to find a spot midway through the day on the 24th to ford across to the other side. The trail that you follow on the north side is not quite as muddy as the one on the south, but there's still lots of it.
You pass through several small villages on these two days as well. Shokambe spends a bit of time at each one talking to the locals, both to find out about conditions up ahead and to ask about a particular druid he knows resides in this area.
Over the morning and early afternoon of the 25th, the river starts widening out to the south. By late afternoon, you're no longer following the river, but instead walking along the north shore of the Lake of Vanishing Armies. A village lies just up ahead--a meagre collection of mud-daub huts. You can see many locals combing through the muddy banks of the lake, collecting crabs and turtles.
"The people here might be able to provide us accommodation for the night," Shokambe says.
Pezock scowls, but doesn't say anything.
Mahjik doesn't notice anything on his scan of the room, other than a hint of impatience from the serving woman. "Is there something you'd like?" she repeats.
"But look, Pezock," Douena says, patting his hand encouragingly, "crabs! Don't you miss them from the Shiv? You can catch some, and it will be like old times."
"Haven't had turtle in a long time... It's too hard for wolves to crack the shells."
Pezock looks out at the crabs. "Hmmm..." he mumbles. "Crabs would be nice." He thinks for a moment, then nods. "Yes, we shall catch and eat crabs tonight! Come!" He begins trudging through the mud towards the lake shore, but only goes a short distance before stopping suddenly.
He spins around quickly. "Didn't we also get a treasure map for this place?" he says. "Crabs and treasure! Our journey will be worth something at last!" He resumes his trek to the lake shore, muttering happily about cooking crabs and finding useful treasure.
Urza follows along quietly.
Douena scampers happily after Pezock, not knowing much about hunting for crabs but ready to smooth over any feathers the tengu's arrival might ruffle with the villagers.
"Wise man embraces the cusp of noon as he is embraced by the cusp of midnight," Mahjik declares to the waitress solemnly. "If you have a broth, some bread and cheese, I'll have those please. Thank you."
Shokambe does indeed head over to talk to some of the villagers while Pezock and Douena go to catch crabs. Surprisingly, Pezock doesn't ruffle very many feathers with the villagers as he's quite respectful of any individual's chosen "hunting zone". The villagers do give him and Douena odd looks at first though, but when it's clear no attack is forthcoming, they pay them little further mind.
Pezock's crab-catching methods are somewhat different than the villagers'. Whereas the villagers are using small wooden cages to trap the crabs, Pezock just bends over and uses his bare hands to pick up one out of the mud. "We'll need something to put them in," he says.
Pezock's crab-catching methods are somewhat different than the villagers'. Whereas the villagers are using small wooden cages to trap the crabs, Pezock just bends over and uses his bare hands to pick up one out of the mud. "We'll need something to put them in," he says.
Douena peers into her backpack. "What did you put them in on the Shiv?" she complains. She briefly entertains the concept of dumping everything out and putting the crabs in the empty pack but then considers that would just put her in the position of needing something to put the dumped-out stuff in. She approaches the nearest native crab-fisher with an ingratiating smile. "Would you sell us your crab cage?" she asks in inexpert but understandable Polyglot. "I'll give you 8 silver pieces or a red pearl."
Mahjik nods, friendly, pushing some coin toward the waitress. "There is much that wise men, and women, have said - but the wisdom is not easy to grasp, so where the words are offered freely, grasping their meaning may take weeks of thought, sometimes years." Slurping a good spoonful of the broth he aaahhhs in enjoyment, then adds, "The cusps of noon and midnight have bothered me several times. I used to think that maybe it is advice to heed danger, be wary of things both at day and night - but... more recently I've begone wondering if perhaps the true wisdom in those words is to acknowledge the purpose of each, find work by day, and rest by night." He grins, "Though probably the biggest wisdom is not to arrive at an answer, but to seek it instead."
Douena peers into her backpack. "What did you put them in on the Shiv?" she complains. She briefly entertains the concept of dumping everything out and putting the crabs in the empty pack but then considers that would just put her in the position of needing something to put the dumped-out stuff in. She approaches the nearest native crab-fisher with an ingratiating smile. "Would you sell us your crab cage?" she asks in inexpert but understandable Polyglot. "I'll give you 8 silver pieces or a red pearl."
The man looks at the offered items and his eyes widen at the pearl. "I will give you two!" he says. He lifts up his two cages and hands them to Douena. One of the cages already has two crabs in it. "Traders like gems," he says, "especially unusual ones. I will take the pearl. I will be able to buy much for my family with it the next time a trader comes through. Thank you!" He takes the pearl and hurries through the mud towards the village.
"Hmmm..." Pezock says. "I think he got the better deal. No matter. Now we catch crabs!"
"Go on and catch some, Pezock, I probably won't have anymore luck catching things with that cage then I did when fishing on the Shiv."