Nalverren moves immediately to help repair what structure was torn down and assist with ensuring Bokehn is taken care of.
william thankful for the opportunity to continue resting will get back to it "Well that was a bold and successful move cole"
"I don't know about bold," Cole says as he considers throwing the torch at the retreating behemoth, "but I can't imagine many of you would have gotten much sleep without our shelter... which that thing was eating."
He jams the torch back in the fire, leaving it lying in a way that is conveniently in reach as he settles back into his spot. In short order, the rhythmic sounds of his repair-work continue.
"indeed, its going to be a feat to make it back" he replied
Eventually the storm passes, the rain easing away and the flashes and rumblig disappearing into the distance. Nor more dinosaurs return to menace the group and the rest of the night passes uneventfully. The sun rises to a cacophony of animal and bird calls greeting the dawn.
Bokehn is hard to wake, and he just mumbles incoherently. He is shivering uncontrollably and sweating heavily with some sort of fever.
" I have no idea what he is suffering from" William will look to see if there is an infected wound, a poison or something else.
Cole watches the camp stir, finishing up his own repairs as William looks in on Bokehn. He steps forward cautiously, his voice concerned, “Will he wake?” He looks at the rest of the team, “And if not, will he survive being carried?”
After his watch Rehil sleeps deeply again. Still the morning sun and animal noises wake him. He finds himself feeling much better although he is still sore in the ribs.
He takes a moment to look over Bokehn. "I don't know if he'll survive being carried or not, but I don't think we can stay here with lizardmen hunting us and no real shelter. We've got to get downstream quickly if we're going to have a chance ourselves. The main question is what route do we take and whether we try to pick up more supplies from the boat."
“It’s a day’s march to the river, and there’s no guarantee the boat’s still there… much less anything other than a shattered wreck and all the gear in the river’s bottom. Finding supplies will take time Bokehn may not have.”
The big warforged shrugs, “Bokehn said he knew the leader of a lizard folk tribe another day’s walk in this direction… though he did also indicate they might not still be friendly. Either way, if we find it, we might be able to get some medicine and supplies.” As an after-thought he adds, “Does anyone speak lizard?”
Rehil nods. He realized that the odds of salvaging anything useful from the wrecked boat were slim. "Grazzat was our translator. Nalverren, can you speak with the 'zards?"
Portforged approached Rehil.
"I can communicate with poisondusks as well." ()
The warforged turned to face its companions with a blank stare.
The mention of Grazzat seems to steel Cole's resolve. "Maybe we should try to make some way to move him more efficiently." "And you guys will be needing food. I'll help with Bokehn's transportation if a few people could go find something for everyone to eat."
Putting words to action, he begins looking for branches big enough to be used for litter poles.
"I wouldn't count on the lizzard men to help us, at least not the poisondusk. It is clear that they are on the warpath. The only real question is are we backtracking to the previous outpost or trying for the next one?"
William will look at everyone's face and cast a on Wultram.
"My healing powers do have their limits you know."
"wouf ?"
"I can speak with them" Nalverren pipes up. "Bokehn's situation is foul, and sadly my small knowledge of magic cannot help him. While others look for food, I will see if I can cobble a natural remedy of some sort. I wouldn't expect much, though, since half the stuff around here is poisonous."
"that you can doesn't mean you should, but if you really want to try and speak to those we attacked us twice don't let me stop you." says william as he heads out to help cole
Cole looks down at the following halfling, “If you have a better plan, let us know. Bokehn thought the lizard village might be helpful… if for nothing else than for getting some supplies for a trip down-river. It’s more than I can come up with.”
"my point cole is that we don't have any knowledge how to recognize the different lizard tribe and it appears be are currently in a territory where those around us are hostile. Of course i would love to have supplies and such but there is nothing i can do about their poison or their numbers. We barely made it out of that last big fight, and there are other natural hazards. All that i am saying is that we have enough trouble as is without the need to get into more potential trouble, especially today, when there are still people wounded."
he says while gathering wood with cole
"How long do you think Bokehn will last without help?" Cole says as he pulls at a particularly long, sturdy branch. "And how long do you think we can last out here if we don't make for some kind of safety?"
"Sadly i would say not very long, especially if it is poison, and if we keep getting into fights like these we won't last long either. i can't keep up. We are currently hunted by the poisondusk. Not only did they wiped out the camp a bunch of days ago but they also left a ambush party in order to kill the next batch of arrival. It show their will and their commitment. We don't know the terrain so we have to follow the river, and their tracker will be expecting us to do the same. The question is back the way we came or up the next human camp? For all we know that next camp could have been wiped also. And the currently neutral lizard folk might just be willing to betray our location to the next poisindusk hunting party. the only thing i know for sure is that for today i just pray that we won't get into any fights."
"Wouf !"
"Do we know where the next camp is?" He begins hacking away the smaller limbs, creating the first of two eight-foot poles. "And that second fight could just as easily have been a patrol group... not necessarily an ambush group. Meaning we may just be in the wrong place at the wrong time as opposed to specifically hunted." He shrugs, clearly not knowing which of the two it is.
"So three choices," he says, pausing to hold up a thick finger. "Look for the next human camp, despite not knowing its distance, location, or current condition." His second finger joins the first, "Backtrack and hope to stay alive long enough to find a way back to that last camp." He unfolds his thumb, using all of his thick three fingers to illuminate their three options, "Or press on, and hope Bokehn's instincts for the friendly lizard-folk camp will still help us... or at least provide resources for us to take."
He looks over at William and waggles his thumb, the third option, "I know my vote, but we should put the question to the full group." He goes back to foraging the supplies for the litter.
When they arrive back at their camp, Cole sets down the litter-poles and begins looking for a piece of cloth big enough to act as the Bokehn-sized sling, simultaneously outlining the options he and William talked about.
"... and those are the options we came up with. I say we continue on to Bokehn's lizard village. If you have a vote, make it, so we can get going."
Once again Rehil searches for food in an alien environment. He looks and prods and roves. There aren't even Bokehn's grubs under the logs he overturns.
Returning to the camp, the elf is somewhat dejected.
"No luck finding food. Maybe one of you others should look. "
"Cole is right. That is the reason we are here in the first place. It was the plan from the beginning, and the safest option."
Portforged turned towards the argumentative halfling. It held up a mechanical arm, and stared at him with unblinking eyes.
"If you dislike it, then leave. Desert. Do not expect sympathy from those who journey on."
Rehil joins in the continuing discussion. He stands up beside William. ".. Bokehn's in no shape to guide us. If we try for the lizard village, we could end up walking into the heart of the jungle and be lost forever. We have no idea how far it is to the next post. It only makes sense to try to go back to the last settlement. We can find help for Bokehn, and re-equip to try again. It's strategy, not desertion."
"Whatever we do, we should stick together. Splitting up will only leave us too weak to do anything."
The elf looks at Nalverren. The man had been living out here for a long time. He might have knowledge that would change the situation for the better.
Cole pauses in his work, "That's two votes for the lizard village. Two for headed back to the last camp." He looks over at his fellow 'forged, "His input is valid, and we need to stick together, whatever we all choose. Possibly more importantly, William's been invaluable to our survival so far. A split unit is a dead unit."
The last words sound like they are repeated from memory, some part of his combat programming.
"Right, well i am going to head out while cole is making the litter and try to find us food. Shall we james?" he says hoping on james's back
"Wouf ! Wouf !"
(Not sure if his condition is disease or poison)
"Not sure what I'd recommend. Real hard shelter first, a shielded fire. Hopefully I can find some natural ingredients to stabilize him."
(Not sure if his condition is disease or poison)
[Dice=poison lore on bokehn] 1d20+9
It's apparent to anyone paying any kind of attention that the big warforged has no clue what he's doing with the litter-creation.
Survival check, estimating travel time to downstream settlement
Survival check, helping build a travois
Inspiration to help find remedies for bokehn
In a sudden bout of decisiveness, Nalverren says "We should move him to the last safe settlement. As far as I am aware, your purpose here is not time-sensitive, correct me if I'm wrong. As such, keeping him alive and getting all the info from him we can will be invaluable in carrying on your mission. Plus, I mean, we shouldn't write him out of the book yet. "
Nalverren finds some leaves he recognises, crushes them and boils them up to make a tea which he administers to Bokehn. It seems to work as he revives a little, becoming lucid.
"What's happened?" he mumbles.
"Boat's sunk. Grazzat's dead. We're lost in the jungle."
Rehil keeps his report succinct.
"I know that, stupid," he replies irascibly. "Bloody stirges have given me a fever, filthy beasts, but my brain hasn't rotted yet. I meant, what happened since I was out?" He lapses into a coughing fit.
"Not much," Cole responds, stepping back. "It's been only a bit over a hour since the team woke up. We were deciding on a plan. Portforged and I suggested continuing to the lizard folk village you mentioned. All but Wultram want to head back to that last camp down-river. Wultram's not weighed in." He looks around to make sure he didn't forget anyone, realizing the halfling's absence. "And William went to find some food for you all."
His ocular orbs rest briefly on the mess-of-a-litter, but he doesn't report on it.
Bokehn shakes his head. "With the supplies we have, we'll never get to Camp Vinor by walking. Most of the jungle is flooded because of the rain. The hills between here and there are very difficult to move through and all the big predators will be up there because the valleys are flooded. And you can't follow the river on foot because it flows through a gorge. And we could blunder through holy sites and have even more lizardfolk out to kill us. If we make it at all, it'll take at least a week." He coughs again. "I know I wouldn't make it.
"No, we go for the lizard village. I know Old Man Pooma there, the village elder." He looks at the pile of wood by Cole's feet. "What by the Dragon Below is that?"
Cole shifts his weight uncomfortably, looking down at the useless product of his attempt. “It was going to be a litter… for you.” He shrugs, meeting Bokehn’s eyes, “Not trained as a medic or a wood-worker, sir.”
He makes an uncomfortable noise in his throat, the warforged equivalent of clearing it, it seems. “What do we lack to move out?”
Nalverren will write in his formulae book on the last empty page for a minute or two, before turning it around for Bokehn's eyes only.
Nalverren is giving his report. I figured this was the only way in case he is about to die, which looks like it could be a possibility. He will write it in code if he thinks that is a good idea and thinks Bokehn would know it.
Portforged makes an awkward grunt-like noise.
"Sir...how much farther is it to the lizardfolk village?"
The poisondusks seemed to be putting up an awful lot of resistance, it did not seem clear to Portforged that the group would make it anywhere alive.
Bokehn eyes Nalverren book. "About half a day. If we follow this ridge down we should get there by noon." He looks at Nalverren. "That tea packs a punch. You just got yourself healing duty. I should be able to make it to the village but I want you close with more if I need it."