Unafe frowns. "The scarred ones sound like Mzali followers of Walkena, the undead child-god and sun-king that I mentioned earlier.
"Can you describe the odd looking ones you followed to the Mzali?"
Umbral shepherds are clever and crafty, but have little magical or martial skill beyond that.
"Hmmmmm," Unafe's frown deepens. "midnight-black eyes in a strange-acting humanoid? That reminds me of an umbral shepherd. They probably took over the bodies of some locals." she shudders.
Glancing at Nicholas, she adds, "I don't know why they went to speak with the Mzali, but umbral anything torching Neiford's shop right after we arrived, racing to beat the Nidalese to the Blade...it can't be coincidence.
"We can follow those Mzali later, but for now I'd say let's keep following the shepherds, if we can. They might be playing the Mzali against us but they can hopefully lead us to our real foes.
"If not then I guess we keep an eye to see what the Mzali find in Neiford's shop. We'd best be careful though: this is pretty close to the Mzali's home turf. We don't want a fight with them unless we have to."
Nicholas scowls, remembering a bit about the creatures from his time in Nidal. "I agree. The court favors creatures summoned from the Plane of Shadows. If anyone called them to interfere, it's them. That means that they're on to us already though. They might have been waiting for us to arrive before making an attack. We'll have to proceed with extreme caution from here on out."
Unafe nods, whispering, "Is there any chance they saw us speak to Captain Hormond...?"
"We should be avoiding contact with the Umbral Court at all costs," Ciervo asserts, shaking his head. The fact that Nidalese agents had already managed to burn down their safehouse did not bode well for their mission. "It is entirely possible that they're in league with the Mzali, or even with Walkena himself."
"We should speak to Hassan, find out what he knows. He might be able to tell us where Nieford went. Failing that, perhaps we could persuade Hormond to depart earlier."
"I actually agree at the moment. They'll be coming after us eventually no matter what, but they have far more resources than we do. It's far better for us to complete our mission as quickly as possible and get out of here with the prize. If we escape with the artifact, then they lose regardless of whether we confront them directly or not."
"Yeah," Cai'nan says. "We shouldn't get distracted with their nonsense unless it interferes with our objective. Get the artifact, get out alive."
Salla nods in agreement with Ciervo. While she regrets losing the two Umbral Shepherds, had she followed them she would have been alone in a strange city against an unknown number of enemies.
"Watch for black eyes." is her helpful advice.
”We’ve done what we can here, we should go protect our ride and get out of here as soon as we can,” Cai’nan says as he takes up his glaive and moves to the door...
"Agreed." Nicholas heads out with the rest of the group to go check on Captain Hormond.
The group crosses town again, heading back to the docks. Captain Hormond told you where his ship was moored before you met him, and you go there. On the deck of Hormond's small ship is a much younger, more sprightly Mwangi man smoking a pipe and relaxing in a hammock that he's strung between the ship's single sail and its prow.
You can also see Captain Hormond, passed out in the ship's small cockpit/cabin.
They don't seem to have been visited by any violence.
Salla discretely scans the surrounding area for any sign of watchers.
It doesn't seem like anybody is directly watching you...
"Our enemies are either unaware of our arrangement, or they haven't visited here yet," Ciervo surmises, seeing nothing amiss with the captain or his ship. He looks to the others, not entirely convinced that they are safe. Knives in the dark, everywhere. "Do you think we should see about hastening our departure? I'm sure we could convince them by... sweetening the deal."
"I believe we have some extra coin, but we might draw more attention to ourselves if we suddenly flee the city. Perhaps we should set a watch and see if anyone comes to cause trouble."
When Nicholas mentions a watch Salla nods, heading off to where she can keep an eye on the boat while remaining unseen herself. She makes sure that Ciervo can see her, in case she needs to signal.
Cai’nan sighs and takes up a watch post, doing his best to keep his disguise active.
Hm. Perhaps it would pay to be less suspicious for once, Ciervo thinks as he watches Salla slinks off. The dhampir glances about, looking for someplace they could stick around without looking too overtly suspicious.
"So we wait, then."
For whatever reason - whether it be because of some convoluted plan or because of simple ignorance, Captain Hormond's ship seems to be safe for the moment. Nobody comes to visit it, and it doesn't seem like either the Mzali nor the Nidalese agents know about the group's contract with him.
The night, therefore, passes by uneventfully. In the morning, Hormond is still snoozing, though he had gotten up in the middle of the night to get some fried grub and a few shots of vodka, so he hasn't just been sleeping straight through. His first mate, however, is getting the s hip ready for travel. Are you ready to go?
"I'm almost more nervous that nothing happened at all..." Nicholas can't help looking over his shoulder as they're getting ready to leave the next morning. "But we should move before something does."
At her first opportunity to speak to the first mate, Unafe introduces herself (in polyglot). "Greetings, and may your ancestors always be close. I am Unafe Rua-Ngakau."
Tuturutanga follows, poking his head out from under her orange robes.
The ship's first mate bows to Unafe, introduces himself as Adrian, and goes to wake up Captain Hormond, who has a majorly bad hangover. After a bit to rouse him, a few cups of espresso, and the effort to make the ship ready to go, Captain Hormond's little ship is ready to weigh anchor. He takes your money and ushers you onto the ship before his first mate pushes it out onto the river.
"Okay, we'll be to that bend in the river in about ten hours. Maybe you guys ought to get some rest, I'll let you know when we're close or if I need you for something."
He unfurls his sail and sits at the back of the ship, near the rudder. His first mate, meanwhile, begins channeling wind, seemingly infinitely and from nowhere, using psychic magic. The channeled wind fills up the sail and the ship quickly shoots along on its way. Captain Hormond guides the little vessel around the larger trading ships and quickly out of the city's docks
"So," asks Hormond, "Where are you headed? Kokutang isn't far from where we're landing, but... I mean, if you want any advice, you shouldn't be going there."
His first mate Adrian nods. "You'll get eaten," he says with a grin.
"Or are you scavengers? Plenty of ruins. You all look like adventurers, that's for sure."
"We are looking for something," Nicholas says. "Trying to scavenge one of the ruins." He intentionally leaves the details vague. The captain doesn't need to know the details of their mission right now.
Cai’nan is more than willing to let Nicholas do the talking as he leans against the mast of the main-sail and keeps his eyes on the shores.
Ciervo weighs his gold pouch in his hand, finding that it still has quite a bit of heft to it. Hm. Perhaps I should have started with a lower price. He had based his 2,000 gold piece offer on some of the going rates Unafe had quoted, but he might have underestimated how desperate Hormond was for a job.
"All kinds of loot to be found out here. Plenty of buyers, too," he adds, wanting to avoid saying anything that would be incriminating. At the same time, he didn't want them to come off as too suspicious.
"Understandable," says Hormond, relaxing near the rudder as his first mate pushes the ship along. "Well, we'll get you to your treasure soon enough. You want me to swoop back around in a few days to pick you up or something? It'd be risky, but maybe you could share some of that treasure with me..."
”Nicholas? Unafe? Thoughts on our return trip?” Cai’nan asks.
"I'm not certain if we'll be able to recover much," Nicholas says. "So I can't promise much. But we do have some leftover gold to pay for a pickup. And having an departure route prepared could be useful."
The Captain shrugs. "Well, you just let me know. I can stick around at a place for a bit before getting too nervous. Or if one of you magic-types can communicate long-range type, you can tell me like that."
Over the next couple of hours, the trip is uneventful and he pulls up to the group's destination - an unremarkable stretch of riverside jungle. "Quickly, before some jungle beasts lunge out of here."
Ciervo hops off the side of the boat and onto the jungle's threshold. He peers through the trees with visible disdain; hardly a stranger to traveling through the wilderness, his experiences were enough solidify his opinion. The captain's mention of jungle beasts elicits a very quiet groan (or sigh?) from him.
"Stick around for as long as you're comfortable, and we'll see about making it worth your while," he says without taking his eyes off the treeline, making yet another promise that he wasn't certain they'd be able to keep.
Salla shoulders her crossbow and slips quietly off the boat, scanning the jungle for any problems, and ignoring the Captain.
"There's nothing to be done about it I suppose." Nicholas sighs and shakes his head. Hopefully their next mission will be somewhere more... civilized. Or at least somewhere where all the wildlife doesn't want to eat him. "Thank you kindly for your service captain. We'll try to make it back alive."
Cai’nan steps off the boat, offering the captain a thanks as he keeps an eye on the forests edge. He will take point for the group, so long as someone directs him to the route they are taking. He uses his glaive to try and keep the foliage and undergrowth clear of their path as the move.
The group takes its leave of Captain Hormond and the man's small ship. Forging forward into the jungle, they head towards the region of the supposed Namane's tomb. It is stiflingly hot, and uncomfortably humid. The walk is slow going, and dirty. Especially for Cai'nan, who is wearing armor over his whole body, who sweats profusely. Several times, a foot will sink into the mud, or a traveler might trip on a twisted and curled root. The jungle is full of sound, whether it be the crash of something large and far away, or the constant shrieking of birds, or the rustling of wind in the canopy above.
Though the vegetation is dense and the going is rough, the ground becomes less swampy and more solid after about a mile away from the river. Going into the Sodden Lands however, you know that this is going to change right back once you exit the jungle.
Few predators would have the audacity to mess with a group during the day. You are thus able to travel for several hours without any interruption other than short rests or temporary setbacks from mud-mires or physical obstacles. In the early evening, you come upon a nice clearing on a small rise. Dry and mostly clear of jungle trees, it seems an ideal place to rest, but you may be able to get a few hours of traveling done. Do you want to press on or bed down for the night?
You think you are perhaps two days from the site of Namane's Tomb, though you're still not entirely certain about its exact location.
Nicholas tears his foot free from another puddle of mud. "I am learning prestidigitation as soon as possible. Or getting a wand or it. And maybe endure elements too..." He's more than happy to find a place to rest. "I suggest we take the place to rest as it presents itself. Having a place to sleep that's not boggy seems like a luxury out here."
The small clearing is about sixty feet to a side, contains a few thick jungle trees and a thin coating of unhealthy-looking dark green grass. The Sodden Lands and Mwangi Expanse loom darkly in every direction. As dusk approaches, the light swiftly disappears because of the thick jungle canopy.
Marsh giants are humanoids with the giant and aquatic subtypes.
Despite their stupidity and simplicity, they are capable of fog cloud, augury, speak with animals and bestow curse.
Brineborn marsh giants are created when regular marsh giants interbreed once again with the aquatic aberrations which spawned their race in the first place. Brineborn are even more hideous than regular marsh giants, deformed and twisted and frequently insane. However, this more recent ancestry bestows them with great power.
Salla points out the signs to the others. "Marsh giant." she says quietly. "Never run into one before so I can't tell you much about it."
"I've read of them in a bestiary, once," Ciervo comments, frowning at the sight before them. "The pictures were fascinatingly ugly. The details, on the other hand, were rather lacking.
"Unless the thought of lying beside an 11-foot-tall monstrosity excites anyone, I suggest we find somewhere else to settle down."
"Weren't marsh giants on the list of things that might eat us if we run into one?" Nicholas asks rhetorically. "I suppose we don't really have a choice other than to find somewhere else then. And perhaps set an extra watch tonight in case they're lurking around."
Throughout the boat ride, and now on their first day walking through the jungle, the strain has been showing on her young face. She's often talking, but rarely to the living. Instead she seems to be muttering (and sometimes pleading) with the spirits that only she seems to hear.
At Salla's warning, Unafe acknowledges her companions' presence and frowns.
"Thank the ancestors that you noticed. I'm afraid I know nothing of them--we don't have much marshland near my village--but it seems wise to keep moving.
"If possible, lets have those of us who can see in the dark lead the way and try to find a site we're less likely to have to share."