"We'll follow the coast for the first while," Pezock says as you set out. "Then we'll scoot down one of the cannibal trails for a very short distance--less than half a mile and then head through the jungle. We've got a long walk on the coast first though, so let's get going."
You head west along the coast, the way you've traveled a few times now going to and from the fungus island. Looking northwest over the bay, you notice that you no longer see the gray of the fungus jungle along the horizon. It seems that the fungus has pretty much died off completely by now.
A couple of hours later, you reach the point where you would cross to get to the first of the two small islands. This time, however, Pezock leads you round the curving beach and you head south. He points out to the rocks off the shore to the southwest and the wrecked ship you noticed previously. "There she is," he says, both fondness and sadness in his voice. "The Crow's Tooth. She was a fine ship once. A very fine ship."
After about a quarter-mile journey south, you reach the point where the beach is closest to the wrecked ship. Pezock pauses to stare out at the ship. "Every time I pass here," he says, "I stop for a few minutes to pay my respects." He unsheathes his sabre and holds it up in a salute. He proceeds to stand there silently.
Taking her cue from Pezock, Douena bows her head reverently for a moment. Then she speaks up. "Desna, many travellers' mortal journey came to an end here. Fill their sails as they travel on in the next world. Many others whom you spared from the shipwrecks had their lives ended by evil men. May your own luck be with us as we seek to avenge them, and may all our journeys continue on past this island and into the glorious unknown."
Mahjik nods solemnly. He helps Jask to stand to attention as they give a quiet minute to the departed.
Lorenz joins the others, drawing his sword and planting the point into the sand as he holds the pommel with both hands and inclines his head. He doesn't speak but his spirit is captured by the solemnity of the moment, quite overwhelming him.
After a couple of minutes, Pezock abruptly lowers and sheathes his sword again. He then marches off down the beach. The rest of you clamor to get moving again.
The beach turns back west for a short distance, moving up against another one of the cliff faces you've encountered all over the Shiv. It then turns south again, hugging the cliff side. You occasionally have to wade through water (and place Douena on Soulwind's back) as high tide settles in. When you're not wading through water, you're climbing over rocks. As the noon hour approaches, you reach a wider area of beach that doesn't require wading and climbing. Pezock stops. "We'll rest here until the heat breaks," he says. "It's a good spot for fishing. There's also a good spot for catching yummy oysters a little further down, but the cannibals like to use that spot too, so we should be careful when we approach. We'll be fine here though. They never come up along this area. It's too rocky."
Urza does his best to keep the others from noticing that he's not as active usual. With Jask's obvious trouble, it is easy to do.
"We still have that potion to cure disease. We could give it to Jask, who so obviously needs it."
Douena had forgotten the potion. "That might be a good idea," she admits. "It's hard to imagine someone's going to get any sicker than Jask is right now."
"I agree with using the potion," Gelik says. "He looks on the verge of passing out, and we don't want that happening."
"Wise man would sow the seeds now to grant himself a great harvest tomorrow. I think we should do it."
You retrieve the potion of remove disease from your supplies and give it to Jask. He fumbles with the stopper, but gets it open. "I should warn you," he says, "these things don't always work."
He says a quick prayer to Nethys and then drinks the contents of the flask.
He holds out the empty flask for someone to take from him. "Now we just wait to see if I start getting stronger."
Jask finds a spot to lie down and sleep while you wait out the hot hours. Sasha finds a rock to sit on with Alton beside her. She takes out her fishing rod and fishes while tending to any of Alton's needs. Gelik tells some funny stories and jokes.
When the heat starts to dissipate a few hours later, Pezock is the first to jump to his feet. "Right! Off we go!" he says. He starts walking south before anyone has a chance to respond.
The beach soon thins again and you find yourselves once more wading through water and climbing over rocks. After about an hour of journey, you reach a small sliver of beach just before a point where the cliff wall juts out into the water somewhat. "Right," Pezock says, "just around this jut is the yummy oyster bed. The cannibals have some permanent ropes and pulleys set up to get us up the cliff. From there, it's a short walk down the trail before we head into the jungle. First though, we need to find out if there are any cannibals there right now. If there are, we have to kill them and kill them fast."
"I can sneak around the corner and peek," Douena volunteers eagerly. "I'm good at sneaking."
Mahjik grins, "She's really good at it - but sometimes she doesn't know how to unsneak herself safely. Let's hope that won't be a problem this time." Even so, Mahjik gets himself a set of 6 well-weighted stones while they wait.
Douena wades into the water along the jutting wall of the cliff. Peering round the corner, she sees a calm little inlet of clear water. While the waves crash against the cliff wall on either side of the inlet, the cliffs block the waves from entering, leaving relatively still water within.
There are several knotted vines and ropes hanging down the cliff within the inlet. Although the water is calm, it is also noticeably deeper and will require swimming to reach the vines and ropes. She sees no signs of any cannibals at the moment.
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The cannibal, while still gravely injured, has awakened. He squints at the group of you surrounding him. "Can you understand us?" Sasha asks him.
He spits and growls something at the group. Sasha shrugs and looks to everyone else for understanding.
"He just swore at us," Aerys says. "Basically told us where we can go." She goes up to him and stares at him menacingly. She says something to him.
The cannibal looks a little surprised and growls something back. Aerys slaps him, and steps back. "He's speaking Infernal," she says. "Well, a bastardized version of it at any rate. Years of isolation have probably created a unique dialect. I think I can communicate with him. What would you like me to ask him?"
The cannibal, while still gravely injured, has awakened. He squints at the group of you surrounding him. "Can you understand us?" Sasha asks him.
He spits and growls something at the group. Sasha shrugs and looks to everyone else for understanding.
"He just swore at us," Aerys says. "Basically told us where we can go." She goes up to him and stares at him menacingly. She says something to him.
The cannibal looks a little surprised and growls something back. Aerys slaps him, and steps back. "He's speaking Infernal," she says. "Well, a bastardized version of it at any rate. Years of isolation have probably created a unique dialect. I think I can communicate with him. What would you like me to ask him?"
"'Why are you so evil?'" Douena suggests. "Oh, I know! Ask him about the captain and Ieana! Did they go to his village? Did they eat them?"
"A good question, though I doubt we can hope for that much. And what do they know about that winged monster in the sky?"
"All right then," Aerys says. She turns back to the cannibal and says a few sentences in his language. He sneers in return. She repeats what she said, this time more forcefully with a slight knock to the side of his head.
The cannibal blurts out something in return. Aerys listens carefully. "He says that there was a man who was captured and brought to the camp. He fits the description of Captain Kovack."
She says some more things to the cannibal, who responds grudgingly. There is a short exchange between the two of them. "He says that the one who caught the man referred to him as Kovack. Also that the one who caught him, who is called Blorad, has suddenly become favored of their chieftain. The chieftain has even given him private quarters in the...uh...tall building. The lighthouse maybe? Anyway, they haven't eaten or sacrificed Kovack, which I gather is what they'd normally do. Instead, he's been made Blorad's personal slave. Neither of them have been seen in several days."
"A good question, though I doubt we can hope for that much. And what do they know about that winged monster in the sky?"
"You mean Big Flappy? I think Pezock said they give him food and things. You're right; we should ask what they give him so we know what he likes. I bet we could give him better stuff so he'll like us better than them.
"Aerys, ask how many cannibals there are. Ask why they keep attacking castaways."
"Ask why they keep attacking castaways."
"Food. Sacrifice to the creature. You know, the stuff we know already." Makoa says simply, smiling slightly.
"Who are their leaders? Who does he fear most?"
Aerys nods and turns back to the cannibals. It takes a moment before the cannibal is willing to respond again, but then he blurts out a few things again. Aerys says something in return and there is another short exchange between them. Then she turns back to the group.
"His counting skills are not very good," she says. "And I don't fully recognize the words he's using for numbers, I'm afraid. However, he does say that they have lost several of their members recently. The ones we've killed. Their leader is Klorak the Red, but the person he fears most is Malikadna. She's their shaman if I'm understanding him correctly. As for the the beast on the mountain, he confirmed what we already know. They sacrifice people to it. When they have castaways, they sacrifice some of them. Other times, they sacrifice one of their own number."
"Oh, well, that's good," Douena says chirpily. "That they consider the ones we've killed 'several' and not just a drop in the bucket. And I can't imagine cannibals and castaways can taste that good. We ought to be able to get Big Flappy better meat than that. Like snake. Or flappy...." Her eye falls on little Alton. "Well, maybe not flappybite," she amends hastily.
"You know what I was thinking," she goes on more slowly. "Pezock saw the captain and Ieana walking toward the cannibals, but when they got there, the cannibals saw the captain and this Blorad person. Who the chieftan seems suddenly to be enamored of, just like the captain with Ieana. And instead of eating the captain or feeding him to Big Flappy like they normally would, they keep him around? Do you remember my dream, about the woman who turned into a snake? What if Ieana can change her shape? Ieana and Blorad could be the same person, if she's really some kind of ... I don't know, wizard or something."
Mahjik slams the back of his fist into the palm of his hand. "That's it! Well done little one! That would also mean the original Blorad has been eliminated by Ieana. I guess that is a spot of luck for us... - so then! Let's strike forth while the going is good!"
Ishirou offers to handle the "swift and merciful death". With a quick swipe of a dagger, he slits the man's throat. He then disposes of the body.
Douena wades into the water along the jutting wall of the cliff. Peering round the corner, she sees a calm little inlet of clear water. While the waves crash against the cliff wall on either side of the inlet, the cliffs block the waves from entering, leaving relatively still water within.
There are several knotted vines and ropes hanging down the cliff within the inlet. Although the water is calm, it is also noticeably deeper and will require swimming to reach the vines and ropes. She sees no signs of any cannibals at the moment.
Douena returns to the group quietly. "I don't see any cannibals, but there's going to be climbing and swimming." She turns a baleful glance on Pezock. "You didn't say we'd have to climb ropes. What are we going to do about Soulwind?"
Pezock looks over at the horse and then back at Douena. "Can't he climb?" He looks genuinely surprised at the idea that Soulwind might not be able to climb the ropes.
"We'll have to get her up the same way we got her down last time," Aakif says. "Ishirou, will you help me rig something up?"
Ishriou nods. "We will need to go up first to get materials from the jungle to make a harness and pulleys."
"There are already pulleys," Pezock says. "The cannibals have a whole system set up for raising baskets of oysters. If the animal can't climb, then use that."
Aakif nods. "We'll have to make certain that what's there will support Soulwind's weight." Pezock looks annoyed, and Aakif continues, "But if it can't, I'm sure Ishirou and I can make adjustments."
Pezock eyes narrow. "Just be quick about it. We don't want the cannibals discovering us while we're waiting for you to play with pulleys."
"Some of us should go up and be on lookout in case some cannibals do come by." Urza says. He also offers to be one of the lookouts.
Mahjik volunteers to guard the top too, arguing that good perception and the ability to keep quiet - he chuckles at that - will come in handy up there.
"I guess I can stay down here and help get Soulwind into the harness. Just tell me what to do."
You set to work. Since Soulwind will need to swim in the inlet, you leave her there temporarily until everything is ready. The rest of you make your way first around the jutting cliff into the inlet. From there you swim across to the waiting vines. Aakif, Ishirou, Mahjik, and Urza go up first. While Ishirou and Aakif begin testing the pulley system, Mahjik and Urza set up watch. Ishirou and Aakif soon begin making adjustments so that the pulleys can hold more weight and begin creating a harness for Soulwind.
After about an hour, Aakif and Ishirou have everything ready. Sasha sends Alton up in a basket and then goes to get Douena, Jask, and Soulwind. Once the horse is there, you hook her up to the harness. Alton and Ishirou begin pulling her up.
Pezock, who has been fishing for oysters the entire time, says, "About time!" and begins climbing up the vines.
The others begin following him.
Douena watches the bird-man and the two women swimming in the clear water and picking up oysters with increasing envy, especially as the chore of getting Soulwind up the cliff drags on. "I'm going to try it!" she finally cries out impulsively. Dropping her backpack and weapons on the sand, she trepidatiously wades into the water. "Don't let me drown, Desna," she begs quietly then holds her nose and dives in.
"Please don't let me have to dive in to save anyone..." Makoa thinks at Desna as he wonders when Pezock turned into a duck.
Mahjik smirks at Urza, "Looks like fun, almost makes me want to try it too. But I think right now we're needed here more."
Lorenz watches the fishing for oysters with interest and finally decides to participate.
Disappointed that there aren't any pearls in the oysters he manages to recover, he shrugs and offers the oysters to Sasha. "I'm sure little Alton will like these more than I do."
Douena emerges from the water dripping and clutching the oysters she has recovered. "Did you see me, Makoa?!? Did you see me? I'm good at swimming!" Briefly cool as she dries, she regears herself.
Once everyone is at the top, you set out again. There has been no sign of any cannibals so far.
As Pezock said before you set out, you only follow the trail for a short while. It winds eastwards through the jungle, but after about a half mile or so, Pezock announces that it's time to trek through the jungle. "There's a river not too far up. We should make for that," he says.
You turn south and trudge through the heavy undergrowth. It takes a full hour to go the next half mile, but at that time, you start to hear the sounds of water up ahead. A few minutes later, you emerge from the jungle along the bend of a river. The river comes from the south and turns to the west here. Pezock directs you to follow the river south. The trees and undergrowth of the jungle grow right up to the edge of the rushing river, so it doesn't help to speed up your progress much. After another hour or so, as the sun is getting low to the west, you come across a small clearing by the banks of the river. It looks to be a good place to set up camp for the night.
"This isn't the way the cannibals come, is it, Pezock?" Douena asks a bit anxiously. "It doesn't seem much like a trail. And I guess they wouldn't be oyster-fishing at night when they can't see...."
She'll do her Small part to help set up camp, then sit down by the river's edge to commune with Desna.
Pezock shrugs. "I don't think the cannibals come this way," he says. "They usually stick to their trails. However, I don't come this way very often, so they might surprise us. We'll just have to kill them if they do."
After her time with Desna, Douena returns to the group and goes around blessing everyone before they bed down for the night. She stops by Sasha and little Alton and offers, "Desna can keep Alton's food fresh for him. Let me know if it starts to smell funny ... well, more funny than it's supposed to," she amends, "considering it's fish slime."
"Wise man seeks to find truth within himself before outside. I suspect from here on out things will get a lot more risky. Everybody, please be on your guard at all times."
Jask nods in response to Mahjik. "Wise words," he says and sits down to rest.
You get the camp set up and then settle down for some food, which consists of snake meat and more fish. After dinner, Gelik performs the fifth section of the Abendego Cantos.
Once again, Gelik brings the beautiful text to life in a moving and engaging manner.
After the performance, Jask tends to the ill before falling asleep form exhaustion. You all settle down for the night.
"It seems strange to be so far away from the shore," Douena remarks to the toothy half-orc. "We've been able to hear the waves at night for so long now. This is almost like our first camp -- do you remember? Well, except for the river. It certainly seems like a long time since the shipwreck, doesn't it? I guess if we hadn't gotten off course, we'd all have landed where we were supposed to be going by now. Do you think they're wondering what happened to us? Well, not us so much, but the Jenivere?"
Mahjik beams at Jask's statement. All in all, he seems to be getting more chipper - his skin is showing a healthier shade again. And he insists on joining the guard duties again.
"Do you feel it? There's something in the air. Like some unseen expectancy. It's hard to appreciate, but we've barely been here a few weeks - yet in some way it feels like we've made something of this place."