Gets up, already grumbling about the heat. He cleans up with a rag and some water before helping himself to left over cold snake and ship biscuit. Afterward he helps to take down and pack up the camp, occasionally glancing up and about looking into the empty morning sky suspiciously.
Carys stretches some and starts to pack up her gear, checking and re-checking to make sure everything is in order. Once done she helps with the camp clean up and tries to offer words of encouragement to the others. The yawning and half awake words, however, almost ring hollow as she too seems to be lagging from the lack of sleep last night.
Majest wakes up with a huge grin on her face, ready to start the day. She shoots her arm into her backpack and pulls out her rations. She satisfyingly gnaws on her tough jerky.
Diplomacy:
Sarai wakes up in a pretty pleasent mood, all things considered. She gives a good streatch, then goes about helping as best she can to get things ready in the morning.
As the camp starts to break into motion, the other castaways hurry about doing the morning's chores. As tired as most everyone is, there is still a lot to do before another days march through jungle. Still, most everyone is in decent spirits. Still frieghtened to be sure, but at least more friendly and eager to help. Even Gelik does his part, helping out with the morning meal (such as it is).
Sasha is in bright spirits, going through her preperations with gusto, talking eagerly about how much ground they can get covered today. After all, there must be some kind of end to the jungle, right? And eventually there should be a beach... or something to make travel easier. And what are the odds of anything attacking a group this large anyway.
In an hour the group is packed up and ready to head out. Some still munching on their breakfast. Shadak takes a lead, motioning for Carys to join him if she wants, and before long it is back to marching through jungle.
Walking along still looking up at the sky and treetops occasional. "Guess I have to admit for an island rumored to be haunted, cursed, and covered with cannibals, just having to deal with insects and heat isn't that bad." slaps at another random buzzing insect and drinks a quick slip from his flask.
Sasha, who happens to be walking next to Ilarian, gives a little giggle. "You ate them well enough last night."
Aerys, walking by Kabur, gives a wry grin as she looks about the forest nervously. "I agree with Ilarian. Getting complacent is the last thing we want. In fact, the longer we're here and the further into the island we travel, the more vigilant we should be."
Gelik, who seems to be in a much better mood today, pishes softly. "What we really need is a song to march by." And with that he starts off a jaunty little gnomish traveling song.
Jask, nearly forgotten in the business of blood sucking monsters, gives the gnome a smile and hums along as he walks beside him, pushing aside the branches that the gnome simply walks beneath.
"Well we could always set some traps about the camp when we stop," Sarai suggests. "I mean, I don't know how, but I'm sure someone like Shadak would know. He seems pretty comfortable around the jungle."
She shrugs and then smacks aside a branch that Aerys accidentally let slip. "I just hope we find a river or something soon. I could really use a bath."
The travel today is much the same as it was the day before. The heat slowly builds through the morning, and the humidity quickly soaks that heat through everything. Jask's water is a blessing to be sure, and Ilarian's magic making it cooler is just as wonderful, but while it keeps everyone going, it does little to relieve the heat.
"Actually," she says softly. "I have been wanting to leave my drinking behind. You don't suppose that you could help me? I've heard that magic can do it, but I've also heard that a plant called Viper Nettles, can also cure addictions such as mine. I would be very grateful if you could help me to find some. I just don't think that the drink has been doing me much good, and now would seem the perfect time to stop. We all need to be a bit more alert."
Majest lets out a huge grin, "You're welcome. Ooooo, I can help track down the ship! Maybe... there can be secret treasure! Or a secret map! Or a secret something else! We can be exploring partners! I'll be Explorer... Lois and you can be... Explorerrrrr... Clark! Yeah, that's good! Do you like Clark? Because if you don't, you can pick something else.
Kabur walks through the day a bit quieter than has been his norm after some quiet conversation with Aerys early in the day. He tries to join in the traveling song that Gelik starts but keeps dropping out. A bit farther down the trail he comes up to Jask and hands him one of the ever present flasks. "Could you fill this up with some water I could really use the refreshment."
Carys seems to be talking to Shadak as she lopes next to him. Occasionally her head shakes or her hand points. Her voice however does not carry very far and they could be talking about anything.
The day goes by fairly easy. A few near misses with the cliff and few surprises from the local wildlife but it seems that whatever may live here is either too intimidated by the large group, or just biding their time for their defenses to be down.
In fact, many of the members of the 'expedition' seem in a mood to do a little more exploring on their way to the lighthouse.
As the day nears evening and the sun begins to set again, the cliff finally eases down to a point where decent is far more reasonable. Not only that, but you can also see a beach spread down below you, wide enough to travel along.
Grins while he wipes the sweat off his bald head. "I vote for a sea side camp! Would be nice to cool my feet off a bit in the waves." He reaches for a flask pauses, and changes which flask he grabs from under his tunic. Takes a swig and with a grimace on his face offers Aerys a drink. "They say it's good for ya."
If you take a drink of the flask it is full of water with perhaps the slightest hint of alcohol from the former contents of the flask.
"That sounds great! I can make a sand castle... or a message in a bottle!" Majest raises her head in thought. "Does anyone have a bottle and cork I can use?" she asks with cute puppy eyes.
Aerys takes the flask from Kabur and takes a long drink, though it is pretty obvious it wasn't her first choice. Still she gives him a grateful smile.
"It doesn't look like a hard climb down, but with all of the gear and packs, it could be pretty slow. And we'll need to get this done before the sun gets too low. We still have to set up camp when we're done."
"Then we best get moving! Don't want to be setting up camp in the dark that's for sure." puts actions to his words and picks up the pace a bit headed towards the beach.
Pulls on his beard a couple times as he looks down over the edge. "On second thought we could just camp here and go down in the morning." looks at the setting sun trying to calculate how much light they have left. "Yes I do believe I could wait another night to dip my toes in the water, besides it will make for a short day today perhaps we can get a good early start tomorrow." He looks back at the rest of the group. "Anyone really keen on pushing on tonight?"
The rest of the party seem no more eager to try out a decent in the failing light than Ilarian or Kabur. Before long, the work is underway to make a defensible camp on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the beach. Gelik even sings a couple songs after everyone has eaten and before long, the stars are shining down on the slumbering forms of the castaways.
That night, each of you has this dream.
You’re sitting down in the galley aboard the Jenivere, getting ready for your meal. The ship’s cook has given you a steaming bowl of soup, but you drop your spoon. You see that the deck below is covered with seawater up to your ankles, and your dropped spoon has sunk into the water and washed out to sea through a hole. You’re forced to lift your delicious bowl of soup to your lips and drink. But something big goes into your mouth as you do so, and you feel a sharp bite on your tongue. You drop the bowl, only to reveal a serpent had hidden in your soup that now dangles from your tongue as it chews furiously. You start awake, biting your own tongue in an attempt to bite through the snake’s body.
A loud "Raaaaaaggggghhhh" comes out of his mouth as he jumps up and a kama in hand he takes a couple of swings focused just inches away from his face before stopping dead still, looking a bit wild eyed around the camp "SNAKES"
Similar cries, not all as emphatic at Ilarian's, errupt all over the camp. Sarai jumps to her feet, her chest heaving and her shirt drenched in sweat. Her eyes look quickly about, taking in the scene around her and her blue eyes only get wider as she realizes what must have happened. "Snake... she pants, looking at Kabur. You too?"
The only one not to cry out is Shadak, but he is on watch, and the look he gives everyone makes it clear he doesn't approve of everyone giving in to nightmares.
Gelik shudders slightly. "Something about the ship..." he mutters.
"We were eating..." whispers Sasha.
Lowers his weapon still looking around with a wild look in his eyes "Ok what is up with this island? These dreams are not normal." turns toward Sarai "Soup on the ship, sinking and then snake on the tongue?" finally places his kama back on its belt loop. "So what is it some magical sending.... or just what we eat haunting us?" seems to settle down the longer he talks and ends up pulling on his beard thoughtfully.
Sarai just gives a shrug and turns to Ilarian, as the closest thing to an expert on magic that they have. Is that possible? Someone using a spell on all of our dreams at the same time?
Carys wipes at her eyes as the sting of biting her tongue has made them water. She listens to everyone else talking about their dreams and wonders what it could mean. "Why would someone or something send us a dream like that?"
Shadak shakes his head slowly. "I also had strange dreams this night, about the time aboard the ship." He shrugs slightly as he paces over to the food to begin getting 'breakfast' ready. "I still do not remember what happened at dinner that night." The way he says it makes it obvious that this fact disturbs him.
Shakes his head "No one is actually hurt right?" looks around the camp at everyone and continues "And we don't know how or way we all had this dream. Baa I am gonna try to get some sleep and probably cross snake off my menu!" with that pulls out a flask and takes a slug, anyone near him can smell the hard alcohol from the drink, grimaces and turns back to his bed roll grumbling under his breath.
"How can food betray me," Majest sniffles, "I... love food..." She begins bawling like a hurt child.
Sarai shuffles over to kneel down and put an arm around the distraught gnome, whispering encouraging words to her in an effort to cheer her up.
Meanwhile the camp slowly goes back to normal. Though few enough get much if any sleep, and everyone wakes up a bit more grumpy and with the prospect of a difficult trek down to the beach ahead of them. Breakfast is a more somber affair, with no snake eaten by anyone, and before long the camp is getting packed up and the de'facto leaders are faced with the task of guiding their troop down to the beach.
"Could we roll the camp stuff down?" Sarai suggests as she looks out over the steep slope, her arms crossed over her chest.
Majest isn't crying anymore, but when she pulls her rations out of her backpack, she stares at it for several seconds before biting down into it.
Majest silently nods in agreement to Sarai's suggestion. Although the nightmare has gotten her a little down, it seems likely that she'll get back to her bubbly self in no time.
Sarai kneels down and gives Majest a nudge. "You could ride on it." she suggests in a clear jest.
Aerys gives a sniff, taking a long drink of water and looking at it sourly before speaking. "I'd hate to break anything. Like a tent pole or a canvas. I know I at least prefer sleeping out of reach of the insects."
"Perhaps we can lower the gear down with rope? Unless Ilarian has some trick up his sleeve that we haven't seen yet," Carys comments as she tries to judge the climb down. "Any chance you can give the horse wings?"