Aerys walks over to the equipment pile and starts digging through it. She finds a composite longbow and a pack. She puts the longbow aside, and searches through the pack, ruffling through several papers. Finally, she pulls out a flask, opens it and drinks deeply from it. She sighs contentedly, closes the flask and returns it to her pack.
"Right, she says. "Where the hell are we and how did we get here?"
Aakif turns to face the remaining sea scorpion only to see it die to Makoa's fierce bite. He scans the beach quickly for threats, then sags a little, planting his two-handed sword point-first in the sand and leaning against it.
"That was an unpleasant way to wake up. And I'd like to know what the Hell happened, too."
He looks around the beach -- does it look like there's any flotsam from a shipwreck?
The gnome looks up at the half-elf quizzically. "We took a boat, and now we're on the land," she explains, as if the method of this particular landing was entirely orthodox.
"By the Gods, we must be shipwrecked!" Lorenz says as he pulls on his sword belt and looks north. "But this isn't at all like the stories. How did our equipment get here? What are those...things? Where's the Captain? Does anyone remember what happened?"
Shaking his head at the many questions, he quickly gathered his things together and ensured that his weapons were intact. Then, pausing as he tugged his pack onto his back he looked around. "Come to think of it, does anyone have any idea where we are?"
Aerys looks down at Douena. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember a thing since dinner. Tell me everything that happened. How did we get on the boat? What happened to the ship?" She kneels down beside the gnome.
"Well I can tell you part of it. The last part. The ship seems to have fetched up over there." Lorenz pointed north to where rocks appeared to be jutting out of the surf.
Aerys looks down at Douena. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember a thing since dinner. Tell me everything that happened. How did we get on the boat? What happened to the ship?" She kneels down beside the gnome.
Douena is taken aback by the woman's politeness, having previously jumped to the conclusion that she was unpleasant. Slightly flustered, she replies, "Well, the boat is the ship ... isn't it? I mean, aren't they the same thing? We took a boat -- or a ship -- to the other side of the world... and here we are," she ends confusedly. "Did the scorpion bite you? I can heal you," she offers eagerly.
"Wise man would find it suspicious that none remember what happened. No rising storm or approach of land. There are many a thing that do not add up." Mahjik approaches the prisoner, Jask, making effort to wake him up and will proceed to free him of his manacles (unless someone interferes specifically). "Perhaps the one who did not partake in the dinner knows more... - come, wake up friend."
"No, no, no, no," Aerys says. "A boat and a ship are two different things." She looks where Lorenz is pointing and her face drops. She turns back to Douena. "How did that happen?"
Jask groans and tries to sit up. His manacles make it difficult for him though, and he gratefully accepts Mahjik's help.
"Thank you," he says to Mahjik, "but the keys are probably lost. Last I knew, the captain kept them in his cabin. I'm probably stuck with these things."
"No, no, no, no," Aerys says. "A boat and a ship are two different things." She looks where Lorenz is pointing and her face drops. She turns back to Douena. "How did that happen?"
"It wasn't me," Douena squeaks, getting to her feet in a panic. "I didn't touch anything, I swear!"
"I'm not accusing you," Aerys says angrily. "But you talked like you remembered what happened. I just want to know what happened! Oh, this is ridiculous!" She gets up and turns away from Douena. Reaching into her pack, she pulls out the flask again and opens it. She drinks from it, but when it turns out there are only a few drops left, she tosses the flask aside. "Damn it!"
Satisfied to be properly equipped once again, Lorenz turned his attention to the sand, keeping an eye out for any other threat.
Tracks on the beach have been disturbed by the battle. However, Lorenz does find evidence of a set of humanoid footprints leading to and from the water along with a fair number of furrows leading up to the locations where each of you woke. They suggest that someone dragged you all up from the water's edge.
Lorenz kneels besides the tracks he found and looks back toward the ship. He looks at the others on the beach, stares at the manacled man, and then back to the ship.
"Hmmm. So we all ate dinner and..." he shrugs. "We fall asleep. Then we all wake up here on the beach about to be dinner for those things." He glances up at the sky and shakes his head. "Or breakfast. The ship is wrecked on those rocks and someone dragged us and our things here. The Captain and crew is missing, except for the half-orcs. There's a manacled man here who I don't recognize and that one weird lady, umm...Ieana? Well she's missing too."
He stops and looks up and down the beach. "So no one remembers anything? Or have any idea where we are? This sure doesn't look like Eleder!"
"Thank you for waking me." Makoa say to Douena after claims his equipment, taking time to put everything back into it's proper place. "Next time though.." he grins, "you don't have to lay on me."
"I have a map of the Expanse, but without some reference points it won't be much use telling where we are. I suggest we gather our things and head over to the ship to the north; there must surely be more information for us there, regardless of what has happened."
Suiting actions to words, Aakif sorts out his gear from the piles, wriggles into his armor , and attaching various belts, pouches, and packs to himself.
"Anybody see any sign of my horse, by chance? I can't admit to having much hope of seeing her again, but..."
"I have seen no sign of your horse Akif, but if you need someone to find reference points for your map, I can help."
He walks over to one of the sea scorpions he's already "opened" and begins to take small bits of insides out to snack on.
"It's not deer, but it isn't bad. Bit chewy though.."
Douena watches the half-orc eating the sea scorpion in fascination. "I've never eaten a bug before. Well, except for some that have flown in my mouth while I was riding on a cart, but they were so little, they didn't really taste like anything." She notices Mahjik standing with the manacled man just beyond Makoa's breakfast. "I might be able to get those off," she offers. "Depends on how badly whoever put them on you wanted to keep you chained up; some of those locks are pretty tricky."
The gnome reaches into her backpack and pulls out a length of leather tied into a roll. Undoing the knot, she lays it out to display a series of different-sized picks and other utensils. Reading back into her pack, she withdraws a battered table knife, a pebble, some sort of root, and what looks like a shiny beetle shell. Arranging all these objects according to some internal logic of her own, she selects a small pick and begins to work at the lock, at times tilting the beetle carapace so that the sun makes it glint and at other times holding the root up to the manacles and muttering under her breath with a grim expression on her face. "And a bit of Desna's own luck," she finishes, interlacing her fingers and stretching them before the final flourish.
Mahjik nods to Jask in a friendly manner, "Wise man believes in judging by actions. We shall make effort to free you. Call me Mahjik." At the group at large, "Does someone have ways or means to free our shackled comrade?"
Mahjik helps Jask along, towards Sasha looking concerned at her well-being. "Wise man thinks the ways of this world are strange, but it is good to begin this leg of our journey together. Do you maybe have a way to aid this warrior?"
Lorenz looks up and down the beach again. "Sorry, Aakif, I don't see a horse anywhere. If someone did drag us all down here, maybe he or she couldn't handle a horse at the same time?"
"This shipwreck so far isn't at all what I imagined one would be like. I'd certainly like to get a better look at the ship itself, and maybe find some answers there. We should probably see if there's anyone there who needs help as well. Count me in! But I don't think I'd want to carry all my equipment over there. Anyone want to stay behind and keep an eye out for Aakif's horse?"
At Mahjik's words, Lorenz looks over the bound prisoner a little warily. "No offense intended, but that man surely is wearing those manacles for a reason. Is it really a good idea to unshackle him before we know a little more about him?"
Smiling as the little gnome gets to work: "Our gratitude for your efforts lively one." To the ex-prisoner, "I do not know how well you could keep abreast of the activities on the Jenivere in captivity, this little one is called Douena."
At Mahjik's words, Lorenz looks over the bound prisoner a little warily. "No offense intended, but that man surely is wearing those manacles for a reason. Is it really a good idea to unshackle him before we know a little more about him?"
"I have talked with him, some. He did not give me the impression that he was a crazed murderer, evil cultist, or the like. In fact, I was praying for the Sun God to shine the light of truth on his plight when you started talking to me, back on the ship."
Aakif chuckles to himself. "Of course, this isn't quite what I had in mind, but He works in mysterious ways."
Douena smiles up at Aakif from the sand. "And I'd say Desna had her say in the matter as well, as by all rights he ought to have been trapped in what's left of the ship ... boat...," she adds, with an uncertain look at Aerys. "The goddess has certainly smiled on him."
Considering Lorenz's words, at length Mahjik replies: "You cannot kill this man without judging him. But you cannot keep him in chains without good reason, as he is less of a burden unbound. Wise man would suggest to judge this man by his actions, rather than the judgment of a Chelish official."
Turning to Jask himself: "Wise man would seek council, do you remember more than we do? The dinner is suspect, so I'm hopeful that you had a different vantage point from the rest of us."
Douena smiles up at Aakif from the sand. "And I'd say Desna had her say in the matter as well, as by all rights he ought to have been trapped in what's left of the ship ... boat...," she adds, with an uncertain look at Aerys. "The goddess has certainly smiled on him."
Lorenz frowned worriedly. "Well, I can appreciate your opinion, Aakif and Desna's as well, I suppose. But Desna didn't see fit to remove the manacles when she saw to saving his life and someone thought the man fit for imprisonment."
To Mahjik: "I wouldn't wish the man dead, certainly. But I haven't seen any actions from him at all to judge him by. What have you seen him do, aside from lie unconscious on the beach?"
He turned to Jask. "Could you, perhaps, offer some explanation for your predicament?"
Urza snaps out of his fugue. He is the last to retrieve his items, Urza realizes just how unprepared he is to be marooned. He moves to stand next to his crewmate, Makoa, while casting a minor spell (Prestidigitation) to clean himself.
"I agree that we should go to the ship. Perhaps there we will find our answers."
"Lorenz was it? To me, the ways of civilization make little sense." He stares toward the forest/jungle.
"I have heard rumor of nobles that will imprison someone for looking at them wrong. I've heard litte about Chelax that is good. So I care little about what some Chelaxian noble I've never meet says."
"A pack is stronger with more packmates. We'll live longer with him with us."
"He did come aboard in Cheliax; he wanted to talk to me because I came aboard at the same time, in Corynten. I don't know about anyone else, but I would think a devil-worshipper's prisoner may well make a good friend and ally."
"Thank you for trying," Jask says to Douena. He listens intently to the conversation about him before speaking again. "I have no means of proving my innocence," he says finally. "I can only tell you my side of the story and hope that you believe me. Several years ago, I worked for the Sargavan government. During that time, I uncovered evidence of corruption involving illicit deals with the Free Captains of the Shackles. I brought the evidence before my superior, only to be betrayed and framed for the same crimes. So I fled, eventually ending up in Corentyn, where I lived a modest life as a scribe for ten years. I thought my enemies had forgotten me, but then a Sargavan agent caught up with me and put me in irons. The agent handed me over to Captain Kovack with instructions to return me to Sargava for trial."
"I'm afraid I have no more memory of what happened to the Jenivere than you do. The last thing I remember is being brought my dinner. Then I woke up here."
"It seems that this all began with dinner. Someone wanted us out of the way though not necessarily dead. Or perhaps another someone did not want us dead. In any case, we won't find the answers standing here. Come on, Makoa, let's take a look at that ship." Urza starts off in that direction. We might be able to scrounge some supplies from the wreckage or maybe there's more of us there."
"Wise man believes in the strength of numbers. Where one might falter, another can stand firm. With such a disparate group of people a great number of skills and knowledges would be present. As such I would advise against having a portion of our strength leave to unknown dangers." Mahjik looks around, relieved to see that everybody appears better off than could be expected in the circumstance. "Wise man thinks that, if there are no objections, everybody should move to the ship. Our collective expertise should carry us further than our individual skill."
"Well, for now the manacles aren't coming off no matter what. I'm interested in seeing what we can learn at the ship as well. What of the rest of you?" He turns to Gelik and Aerys. "Do you intend to investigate the ship with us? Or have you other plans and insights?"
"The ship is as good a place to start as any right now, save perhaps the jungle.." Makoa waits for the others to start moving before heading for the ship himself.
Mahjik returns to Sasha, smiling: "Wise man believes freedom comes in many forms; perhaps being apart from all prior things in life such as this is one of the truest forms of freedom. I wonder if it should be embraced. What do you think?"
"Well, for now the manacles aren't coming off no matter what. I'm interested in seeing what we can learn at the ship as well. What of the rest of you?" He turns to Gelik and Aerys. "Do you intend to investigate the ship with us? Or have you other plans and insights?"
Gelik takes a moment to cast a spell that cleans the sand and dirt from his clothes before replying to Lorenz. Then he straightens his back, trying to look as tall as possible. "I agree that there could be something valuable to be learned on the ship. However, I'm likely to get myself killed climbing over those rocks. I'm a comedian, not an acrobat. Our prisoner associate also can't go over them while bound, so he should stay behind, and someone will need to watch over him. Perhaps he is innocent as he claims, but until we know for sure, we shouldn't take any chances. So I suggest only a small group, maybe five or six, go back to the ship. The rest of us stay here and watch over our belongings."
Mahjik returns to Sasha, smiling: "Wise man believes freedom comes in many forms; perhaps being apart from all prior things in life such as this is one of the truest forms of freedom. I wonder if it should be embraced. What do you think?"
Sasha sits up and looks around the beach. The smile that she had gained on the ship before whatever happened is gone. "Freedom should be embraced," she says, "but is this freedom? It's more like a giant prison. We can stay right here and rot, or we can try to get out to the ship and probably get smashed against the rocks, or we can wander into the jungle and get killed by gods know what creatures are out there. Yeah, this is one big prison all right." There's a hint of tears in her eyes.
"Oh, they're manacles from Cheliax," Douena says glumly, packing away her tools. "That explains things. In Cheliax, they're very good at locking people up. Those manacles are more afraid of the people who put them on him than they are of Mr. Duck." She continues talking as if what she just said made perfect sense. "Why on earth would you flee to Cheliax, though? There's all kinds of places on Golarion where Chelish enemies would have a much more difficult time catching up to you: Varisia, or Andoran, even."
"I agree that there could be something valuable to be learned on the ship. However, I'm likely to get myself killed climbing over those rocks. I'm a comedian, not an acrobat. Our prisoner associate also can't go over them while bound, so he should stay behind, and someone will need to watch over him. Perhaps he is innocent as he claims, but until we know for sure, we shouldn't take any chances. So I suggest only a small group, maybe five or six, go back to the ship. The rest of us stay here and watch over our belongings."
Douena narrows her eyes at the other gnome, then agrees artfully. "You're right. We definitely need someone to watch our stuff. I mean, who knows when those scorpion things will be coming back with friends? And that's just things out of the sea. There could be all kind of things lurking just beyond the tree line: cannibals and pirates and wild beasts. And the prisoner can't fight them off as long as he's manacled. As for me, though," she hops up, "I'm going to play it safe and head for the ship ... or boat. Thank you for volunteering for the more dangerous task, Gelik. You're very brave."
Douena narrows her eyes at the other gnome, then agrees artfully. "You're right. We definitely need someone to watch our stuff. I mean, who knows when those scorpion things will be coming back with friends? And that's just things out of the sea. There could be all kind of things lurking just beyond the tree line: cannibals and pirates and wild beasts. And the prisoner can't fight them off as long as he's manacled. As for me, though," she hops up, "I'm going to play it safe and head for the ship ... or boat. Thank you for volunteering for the more dangerous task, Gelik. You're very brave."
Gelik blinks and swallows. "Yes...uh...thank you," he stammers, avoiding looking Douena in the eyes. "Definitely very brave of me. Ask anyone who knows me. They'll tell you that Gelik is one brave soul. Yes, very brave."
As Gelik speaks, Lorenz nods and smiles. "You speak sense, Gelik. I agree that returning to the ship will be dangerous, and certainly not ideal for the prisoner.
"But it's clear that Gelik and this man...Jask, is it?...cannot remain alone. Are there any others who would stay with them and keep watch on the beach?" He looks to the somber man with the katana and Aerys.
Having finished repacking her backpack, Douena moves back toward where the gear was piled to retrieve her staff and sling. Staying well away from Gelik, she approaches Sasha from the other side. Reaching up to pat the woman's hand, she motions for her to lean down and then whispers, "Don't mind what I said to Gelik. I just said it because I knew he was being a coward. I don't think this island is so bad. If you think about it, everyplace is an island, even all of Golarion, so everyplace is a prison of sorts of a different size. Think of it this way: we have more freedom here than on the ship, where we were all confined to just a wooden box, surrounded by the ocean. If we were attacked by pirates or caught in a storm, there would have been nowhere to run. Here, we have much more room to roam: to run and hide if we need to, or to discover wonderful things! Desna has already somehow rescued us from the ship; she won't stop watching over us now."
Sasha smiles. It's a brief smile, but it's there for a moment. She grips Douena's hand in a friendly manner. "Perhaps you're right. Thank you."
She then stands up and addresses everyone. "I'll stay here and help look after things. I'll make certain no one comes to any harm, even brave Gelik."
She then stands up and addresses everyone. "I'll stay here and help look after things. I'll make certain no one comes to any harm, even brave Gelik."
"Excellent! I feel much better coming back from whatever awaits us on yonder wrecked ship knowing that there are people keeping watch back here. Who else? Who's going and who's staying?"
"I will stay behind," Ishirou says with a quick bow of his head.
Nearby, Aerys kicks her empty flask across the beach and into the water. "No way I'm climbing over those rocks. I'll stay right here, thank you very much. At least if something comes at me, I'll be able to see it, rather than something grabbing me from under the water. The rest of you go to your deaths if that's what you want."
Sasha shakes her head sadly at Aerys's comments. "Well, that makes five of us staying here. That's about half. Half stay here, the other half to the ship?" she suggests.
Lorenz claps his hands together and rubs them briskly for a moment. "It sounds like it is settled then. Is there anything we should look out for those of you waiting behind? More...medicinal supplies, Aerys?"
He approaches Gelik. "Thank you for taking the lead," he says softly as he kneels and removes his pack. "If the ship is as badly wrecked as I fear, it might have been a disaster to take too many with us. Don't take the other gnome's words too seriously; you're in a far better position amongst the others here. In the meantime, would you do me the favor of keeping watch on my pack? I think it'd be better to leave it behind right here for now. If I can't come back, there's a little food and some tools that may be of use to you."
He removes a pair of sacks from the pack and picks up his shield before standing. "Well, we might as well go on then, before the tide returns."
"Keep an eye out for Aakif's horse," the gnome advises the group that's staying.
Gelik nods at Lorenz. "I'll watch over it for you. Good luck to you."
He turns to Douena. "And yes, we'll watch for the horse," he says brusquely.
Jask has moved over to the pile of equipment. He glances over it, then shakes his head. "As I suspected, my own belongings are not among these. They would have been kept in the captain's cabin and whoever brought us here may not have had access to them. If you could recover my things while you are at the ship, I would be in a better position to help out."
Jask has moved over to the pile of equipment. He glances over it, then shakes his head. "As I suspected, my own belongings are not among these. They would have been kept in the captain's cabin and whoever brought us here may not have had access to them. If you could recover my things while you are at the ship, I would be in a better position to help out."
"And the clever little Chelish key, hm?"
Jask has moved over to the pile of equipment. He glances over it, then shakes his head. "As I suspected, my own belongings are not among these. They would have been kept in the captain's cabin and whoever brought us here may not have had access to them. If you could recover my things while you are at the ship, I would be in a better position to help out.""And the clever little Chelish key, hm?"
Jask chuckles. "If it's there, it would certainly be helpful."