Though the inn was far from complete, He spent many of the nights laughing, drinking and feeding his neighbors. He shared tips with housewives on cooking, did his best to take some of the youth and teach them a silly game or two from his youth, also . . . He did his best to reinforce the belief that the city would be safe as long as everyone here did there part. He did add that most of the folk heading this way were simply folk misled by power seeking madman.
He also would talk up the others heros of the new city, How Sir Dorick and his training would get the folk able to defend their new homes in no time, folk just had to listen and learn. How Kalig and her skills with nature and plants would optimize everything to give them the future they all dreamed of.
He brought up Mia's skills in the community as well as long as some of the other bastions of the community. Haven was strong community, and it would grow stronger still.
Each day at the inn brings a bit more ease to Francoix. Not only does it mean more time spent in his preferred element, but as he speaks with the residents of Haven, he grows increasingly reassured that there are no more internal threats to worry about.
Hatha's betrayal is the prime topic of conversation and gossip. Noemie idly muses on the poetic justice of this fact, considering the treacherous butcher's own penchant for gossip. There is naught but scorn among the Delacouis' customers; not a whit of empathy to be discerned among the patrons, not even hidden beneath their words.
A more benign though no less pleasing observation that Francoix makes is the frequenting of the burgeoning inn by Harkan and the orc-kin. They none too subtly check upon the two children entrusted to the couple as kitchen hands, but they also seem eager to patronize a business willing to employ their kin.
They scatter throughout the overgrown ziggurat and, returning at chaotic intervals, begin piling together seeds and bits of plants harvested from the grounds. They are not traditional crops that the settlers would be familiar with - roots, small tubers, and green pods - but they are edible if not palatable. These native plants would undoubtedly take well to the local soil, and cross-pollinating them with imported strains could produce useful improvements (even though that may take a couple seasons' worth of experimenting).
If nothing else, it is comforting to find these small, child-like nature spirits so willing to share.
The product of Kalig's work is witnessed over the proceeding days. Many farmers report seeing tiny "fey" or "gremlins" patrolling their fields at night. It takes some reassurance, something that Francoix proves adept at, but they soon accept that these are the leshies helping out. There is some grumbling about the strange vegetable matter left overnight, spread as fertilizer.
However, an undeniably positive story arises when Gerla Hadondottir stops in from her fields. She reports seeing one of the small, green creatures caught up in a losing battle, struggling to wrestle a handful of rodents away from early sprouts. Gerla, drawing inspiration from the party's battle against the bulette that preyed upon her oxen, rushed in to turn the tide of the small battle and aid the leshy, smacking aside offending rodents with her hoe.
Kalig thanks the leshies for their help. Some of the seeds she takes to plant in her own garden, to perform some of her own hybridization experiments--and also reinforce that by using the gifts of the leshies at her shrine, these are acceptable products of nature.
When she sees the fertilizer the leshys spread, Kalig asks Soraya and Mia if they might be able to analyze it -- perhaps it is simply compost, but if it has any special properties, the alchemists and potion makers might find something valuable in it.
She also seeks out Valentina, her old rival in bickering, and asks her to consider how Haven might find ways to convince Borjan's men away from their cause.
She also spends some time to be sure Matilda is not neglected of course, and offers her help to the farmers in plowing fields--but ensuring her donkey is well-fed and washed for her efforts.
Dorick makes a point of commenting whenever he hears about Leshys:
"They are kindly creatures and to see them is a sign of their favour - a good sign!"
When he hears of Gerla's assistance, he smiles broadly and adds his voice to those praising her.
Kalig finds Valentina tutoring some of the children of Haven, her sister Mabel among them, beneath a wagon covering stretched out upon poles to block out the unyielding Casmar sun. A satisfied smile creeps across Valentina's face when she learns that the druid has come to consult her regarding the coming mob.
"I'm relieved you are not too proud to consult someone better versed in a subject when the need arises. Your knowledge of nature is peerless, but politics and socialization are entirely different beasts."
She dismisses her students to an early lunch and recess. They eagerly take to frolicking among the sun-dappled sawgrass. Once they have gone, Valentina's expression turns bitter, more haunted. She clenches her first, and for a moment it seems she may strike it upon her knee or the box upon which she sits.
"I hate the bloodlust I feel rising, up from the pit of my stomach, through my heart, and bubbling into my throat," Valentina nearly hisses. The mob that beat my father half to death and delivered him to the final blade was naught but a pack of rabid dogs, and the Bloody Baron is the one who let them off their leash. My parents were educated; that immediately marked them as enemies for Borjan.
"Perhaps it is best that I no longer command the same level of authority as you, for I would simply have Borjan beheaded and sent to answer for his crimes. I doubt that would endear us much to his followers. Worse still, it would do little to ease the pain I feel."[/b]
Valentina sighs and takes a moment to compose herself.
"I will stick to practical advice. That would be best," she declares, mostly to herself. "Borjan is a vile genius when it comes to whipping the angry and scared into a frenzy, but he is a dunce in every other regard - especially planning and organization. I doubt he dedicated as much preparation into the march across the Whistling Plains as we put into ours.
"By the time they arrive, his followers will be sick, starving, and exhausted. They will have seen their friends and family die needlessly as they blindly followed the Bloody Baron. If you offer them comfort and hospitality, while Borjan still only offers hateful vitriol, you will win their hearts - and hopefully save their souls."
He was no bard to raise morale with his stories or songs but he knew how to make folk happy with his food. While the waiting grew long, he started to sponser a story telling competition each night, with the best story taking home on of his pies. Fact, fiction, or a mix didnt matter to the innkeeper nor did who told the story.
When word reached him of the heroics of Gerla Hadondottir. He declared her the winner story untold, inviting the woman (and her family if she had one) into the inn for dinner and a pie on himself.
He tried to keep on a bright cheery front for the townsfolk even if at night his love heard all his dark worries about this Borjan. Murdering the man in the darkness would just make a martyr of him something that wouldn't do.
One of the days, hopefully with a moment to speak to Kalig, he asked her if the Leshies 'ate' anything.He was completely clueless as to Leshie anatomy or well anything about them really.
Kalig chuckles at Valentina. "For once, I think we agree on something. Write this day down." She fixes the young woman with a more serious gaze. "Do you think you can help encourage other Haveners to accept those who might defect from Borjan? It will be hard for some to accept them. And at the same time, we also have to be sure those who may defect are sincere." She frowns. "You will say I am too paranoid, but this place has been built to give all of us a new chance at life, away from the politics of the other regions. Yet the butcher... even if sent here with ulterior motive... she was surrounded by this same second chance. We have had problems, but most folks to my knowledge are treated well and equally. She could not accept what this place had to offer, but chose instead to hold on to grudges that should no longer apply. For these grudges, she went to the lengths of murdering one and framing another, when she could have lived a happy life had she, just the like the rest of us, left the past behind. Apart from accepting that most people are generally awful, I struggle to understand why. She seemed to have little to gain from what she did. As you say, I am not versed in politics the way you and others are. I have learned a bit, from observation and study, but always as an outsider. I... I do not know where I am going with this, truth be told, but... if you have thoughts on what makes others unhappy here, that might turn their hearts, we need to be alert of such things in times ahead. I know the racial tensions are always a concern, though that is improving with some time. But what is coming is more than cross-cultural."
===
When Francoix asks her about leshies, she shrugs. "They are spirits bound to a mobile plant form. I expect like most plants, sun and water are their greatest requirements. I can ask them." She smiles at him. "Now that you mention it... if not food, maybe they'd like some other gift. Sometimes they seem to mimick humanoid behaviors they observe us doing. Maybe they'd like some tools or trinkets to that end."
"Sounds good, I'll bake them up some little mud pies then, make a show of presenting them to them next time we have a gathering or something, Im sure my younger helpers would love that."
He added after learning about the Leshies. The little plantmen were being more than helpful that was for sure.
A thought bothers Dorick.
After wrestling with it on his own for a while, he resolves himself to hash it out with his friends.
So he seeks out the others for a meeting, on the topic of:
"...so, what do we do with Borjan himself? And those who decide that he is still their saviour?"
Valentina's smile returns when Kalig makes her requests.
She touches a hand to the divot at the base of her neck, feigning the expression of a surprised debutante.
"Are you suggesting that I'm the more...diplomatic of the two of us?" she muses coyly. "I don't know if it's the job for me, but if you were to, perhaps, voice your support for my talents, I think I would find the confidence."
The teasing is quite clear. Kalig's rival is playfully goading her into admitting Valentina's prowess in social skills.
Kalig snorts, but her eyes gleam good-naturedly. "Don't press your luck, girl. My 'diplomacy' has kept me, a half-orc orphan, alive in hostile territory for 21 years, and I'd like to see you have done as much in my shoes. But I respect that you've insight on Galt and what the people might need and am happy to encourage the village to listen to their children's teacher."
Dorick continues speaking.
"I do believe that we can win over at some of Borjan's mob - Borjan's *followers*. We have a growing abundance of foodstuffs and of trained, motivated defenders. The demagogue's followers, for reasons of carrot or of stick, are going to have to decide who is worth siding with."
"But not all will choose us. Some will be fanatics or dupes, others will be simply too maddened by bloody deeds and hatred. I expect that unless we get extremely fortunate, there will be fighting of some sort. Folk of Haven will likely die at the hands of Borjan and his core followers."
"When all is said and done, I do not think we should go to any special effort to take these hard cases in alive. However, if fortune puts an unconcious or stricken Borjan into our hands, we need to have a plan."
"I propose a public trial for the crimes done unprovoked against the people of Haven."
Fendir remains defiantly confident. When word first arose of the approaching Borjan, his kin were already finished the north-facing wall. Thus, he readily put them to work next building up a west-facing wall, using the old Kaskkari gatehouse as an anchor. To hear him tell it, he and his kin could defeat the entire "mob" themselves. The rest of your council does not share his confidence.
Seraphina and Lena readily put forth their support towards winning over the misguided Galtan expatriates. Valentina soon recruits them to help her "save" the Bloody Baron's followers from themselves.
However, it is Soraya - blunt as always - who voices another dilemma.
"We can't promise food that we don't have," she states with the same gravity as a judge delivering a sentence. "I've been talking with Viscount Aristide, and our situation is more precarious than we've been willing to admit.
"The original plan was for the caravan to build shelters and pass the winter using a combination of the supplies we brought and our first plantings. On the following year, we would send for the rest of the settlers when we could better count on a full planting season. Having that second wave of settlers arrive early has already strained our supplies.
"If we take on even more settlers, we won't have enough food to get through the first winter."
"Is there any possibility that we could stretch our supplies? Or use more magical aid to aid the harvest? Perhaps trade with locals? There has to be a way!"
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"So what the leshies are doing to help will not be enough." She shakes her head. "I worry about pushing more with magic. We could set the whole cycle off, feast now but starve next year instead."
Kalig crosses her arms. "Can the dwarves send us any aid? They are the ones who saddled us with the second wave early." She pauses only a moment, not really expecting an answer to that question. "But, assuming they will be useless as usual, let us consider other factors..."
"We have been talking about offering solace to those who abandon Borjan. I was not expecting that, quite frankly, to be a massive number of people. Do we have any sense of how many are coming? I expect only some will peel off, and the rest we will still have to fight. Would we be taking in that many more mouths to feed? What are you expecting? Honestly, I'd be more concerned about Borjan attacking our supplies and destroying them; figuring out how to ration comes after."
"Secondly, what is the assessment of foodstuffs we have on hand? What is it we are least short on? How much grain will the magic preserving jars we found hold? The river has a lot of fish, as does the sea nearby. Do we have enough salt for preservation or do we need to send some folks down to the sea for salt harvesting? I know we only have so much livestock, but what about game, and can we dry and cure more meat? What do we need to get supplied away to be safe?"
"Finally, what about the Keleshites? I was given to gather they would be stopping by again, hopefully to trade. What are the chances they show up before these raiders arrive?"
She shrugs, and settles Aristide and the others with a grim look. "Finally, I will be clear that my main hope in luring the soldiers of Borjan away from him was to avoid losses of our own through fighting. If what you are saying is we have to fight and kill them all, so be it," a sort of coldness, a brutal resignation of sorts settles into her eyes and jaw, "but then we will be likely to lose both lives and supplies in the process. On the upshot, if we insist upon fighting to the death and get enough of our own killed in the process, then we will definitely have fewer mouths to feed come winter. Is that a preferable plan to you, Aristide?"
"I have thought about the Keleshite traders, as well," Aristide adds in reply to Kalig's suggestions. "Canny traders, they would suspect that a newly founded settlement would need extra food to survive its first winter. My one concern would be whether we have enough money to purchase all that we need.
"Another possibility is trade with the locathah. They expressed interest in tubers and pottery, both of which we either have in our stores or can easily produce. With their help, we could rely upon the bounty of the sea to get through the winter."
Aristide sighs before addressing the topic of Borjan and his followers again.
"I would rather feed our countrymen than kill them. I do not want to see them sacrificed in needless bloodshed, even for survival."
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Kalig raises her eyebrows. "Somehow I already thought we were trading with the locathah. That certainly would help. I'll talk to Quinn the Potter. If she needs material, I can look for clay in the streams that feed into the river."
"As for the Keleshites, besides money, what do we have that they might be keen on trading? Is anyone taken on making wine, mead, or beer? Might they like furs? Both of things will have unique qualities to this region."
Something else comes to her. "As far as preserving meat goes... we are without a butcher. Is anyone else skilled at that art? Anyone might cut a carcass, but a trained butcher knows how to avoid waste."
"If it were put to a vote I would gladly say we let Borjan drown in his own blood, but thats a personal issue not the best for the community as a whole im afraid. I've would love to learn how to do any of those crafts Kalig, but I dont think I'd be ready to craft enough of such items in so short of time. "
He sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
"We might be able to goad Borjan into doing something that gives us a legitimate reason to end him, will still end up in bloodshed with some of his followers, but I dont know how we can avoid that."
He fiddles with the rapier on his hip for a few moments.
"I've some experiance in prepping meat but im no butcher, I could make do in a pinch I suppose, I'd be better than nothing I'd imagine, though some skilled in hunting might be as practiced."
"Maybe your assistants can suggest someone from among the orcs."
"I very much doubt Borjan himself would require any goading to incite bloodshed. To be completely clear, I am not making plans to take him alive. If we are in the unfortunate position that he is knocked unconscious or surrenders, then I would like us to not have our jaws flapping as we wonder what to do."
"Frankly, I fully expect him to either fight to the death or flee to save his own hide."
"I have a little in the way of fieldcraft but my talent is for a different form of butchery.", he adds with a grim note.
When talk turns to finding someone skilled at butchery to cut and preserve meat for Haven, Fendir and Harkan exchange sharp looks. The pair seem to be wordlessly daring the other to speak up first, volunteering one of their kin for the job, so they can then contradict their counterpart.
"Trade with the locathah has been slow to start," Aristide explains. "It would be erroneous to claim that our people simply remain...skeptical of these peculiar neighbors, but that is a contributing factor. However, I think the real issue is that most of our people continue to stockpile their goods rather than offering them up for trade, even though they might get more that way."
The viscount commends Kalig's mind towards industry. Brewing or distilling, however, would take time to yield results, and in the process would consume grain or fruit. Hides, furs, pelts, and similar animal products from the region might be a better alternative.
"The empire's markets always hunger for interesting new products," he confirms. "Of course, we might risk incurring the wrath of the hill centaurs if we begin hunting what they see as 'their' animals."
"The hill centaurs are also at risk from an invading army. Can we negotiate with them borders for hunting grounds?" Kalig sighs. "We can also see what is across the river, though I recall rumors of goblins." She scowls. "Fendir, that gal in your clan who hunts so well, could she organize a party?"
Fendir seems flattered - or at least, as close to flattered as he'll allow his face to betray - to have Kalig request his kin, Axxa, help lead the exploration across the river.
"There may also be other Kaskkari ruins to be found," Fendir adds. "Who knows? If we find some more ancient treasures, we may have all the money we need to buy food from the Keleshite traders. We must remember that plants and animals are not the only resources to be found out here."
"Fendir raises a solid point. The Kaskkari left much behind - wealth that we could make good use of. We have already bested some of their remnants before and we can do so again!"
Mia had spent the days preparing in case the worst may happen. She uses a mixture of reagents she grows as well as some gathered on the outskirts of town to craft her potions. She makes sure her assistant Teriel takes part in all of it. After all, she will need help keeping stocks up as the city grows, and Teriel shows promise. She devoted almost all of her potion mixing time over the past several days to healing poultices which she donated to Sir Dorick to distribute to his growing militia. I know its viscous and a bit bitter, but they have to drink the entire vial. Make sure they know that.... and... and it wont help anyone who has already passed... we can set something more professional up later,
At the meeting, mia offers her help. Shuddering slightly at the thought of delving into another place like the last one. Part of her reason for coming here was to get away from ghosts and spirits after all.
I, um, I mean, I could use my poultices to trade, though they may do better here. Tha-that is to say, I normally only charge the citizens here a fraction of the cost of normal potions of similiar effects. We, um, we would need to try and sell them as exotic, otherwise they may not be trusted due to their much different appearance from normal potions. And, admittedly, my stock is a bit low at the momemt... but, I think my wonderful assistant Teriel will be able to help with that soon...ish.
"Well, I've been avoiding it, but we were going to have to deal with that region sooner or later. Now seems a good as time as any. If it looks insurmountable however--we need to agree to turn back. Or we may leave Haven with fewer souls to fight for it."
"I actually had an idea, Miss," Teriel says to Mia. "Our potions' efficacy cannot be denied. However, even I will admit that their presentation leaves much to be desired. However, we could try offering them to the locathah. We don't know...anything, really, about their tastes. For all we know, they might find them incomparably delicious."
.....
Regarding a venture across the river, your peers in the custodianship of Haven all voice their confidence. Aristide, Harkan, Fendir, and even Valentina express surety that they can guard the settlement in your absence - at least until Borjan arrives.
Harkan and Fendir trade boasts about whose kin keeps better, more vigilant watch by night. Meanwhile, Machus and Natsagiin vow to patrol afield every day and keep watch by daylight.
Lena informs you that one of the enterprising fishers has already crafted a skiff from wood left behind by the dwarven barges. It should provide a safe passage across the river for the party.
"Mia, your concoctions have saved lives and will do so again. Haven owes you gratitude."
"Now, to strike out at the ruins!"
On the morrow, no sooner has the party assembled but you find a throng of settlers following on your heels as you march down the hillside to the river's edge. As the Heroes of Haven, when you embark upon another expedition, it is a cause of great excitement for your neighbors. They offer cheers and well wishes as you go.
Tarlach the fisherman waits for you at the riverside, his skiff pulled up onto the sandy bank. He offers a friendly wave before he begins to slide the narrow boat into the shallows.
"Welcome aboard, folks!" he calls. "I'm right honored to help out on this venture. I hear you're off to explore some more of these old ruins. So exciting!"
"Clever of you to build this skiff," Kalig observes. "Thanks for helping us." Kalig has decided to leave Matilda behind for this venture, not wanting to have to coax her onto the small craft--or overweight it. She has asked Calderwood to check on her while they are away--and offered the donkey's services for working. "You don't get to go on holiday because I am gone," Kalig had reminded the creature before she left.
"This river is plentiful with shad, barbs, and trout. Unfortunately, it's mostly the smaller ones that keep near the shores and sandbars. If I want to catch larger fish in my nets, I knew I'd need to make my way out to the deeper waters in the delta.
"It wasn't easy to barter for the wood I needed. Most folks were so keen on snatching up all the dwarven bargewood for their homes and barns, I had to trade practically everything I've caught so far to get enough for this girl," Tarlach says, patting the side of his skiff."[/b]
As you climb aboard the craft, you can see herons and egrets standing among the other shallows and sandbars to the east, silhouetted by the rising sun. They sit patiently in the water, waiting for the chance to plunge their beaks into the river and seize their prey.
"Of course, there are other, more dangerous critters out there as you head into the deeper water, especially when you approach the far banks. I've seen some large, strange beasts wallowing in the water - or heard them crashing about in that vast swampy forest that swallows the whole southern shore."
Tarlach points towards the dense forest that you can dimly see in the distance, through the morning mist, across the river.
"I don't know if it's got a name that appears on any map, so we've just been calling it the Sogg."
"If we find a good source of timber in the Sogg, could you build more?" Kalig asks Tarlach. "And what kind of critters?"
"Of course I could build more, but I reckon most of the other fisherfolk would want a hand in crafting their own vessel. Good luck, and all.
"As for the really big critters, can't say I've gotten a good look at them. I try to keep my distance." Tarlach says as he begins paddling the skiff across the river.
He describes large, gray behemoths that wallow in the water, big as a wagon if not more. He also mentions long, scaly dragon-looking creatures sunning themselves on sandbars.
"My mates call me crazy, but I swear I also saw a giant bug walking among the trees on the south bank. No one of them big mosquitoes or really long centipedes that get into old houses back home. This was a mantis, and it was the size of a house!"
Mia keeps her hood up, still not quite wanting all the attention their group seems to garner when it moves about, and keep quiet for most of the time until the fisherman starts talking about wild fauna.
She lets out a small gasp. Could... Could you be talking about a Hippopotamus amphibius? Does it have a really big mouth? Like, big enough a child could almost fit inside it? oooo I remember being told about them, and reading a bit on them but I've never seen one. I so hope its one. The other one sounds like its either an Alligator Mississippiensis or a Crocodylinae. They are more common, but some theories suggest they are part of the dragon family you know! Though, I don't think that is likely. If anything lizards would be closer. Did you manage to see how many where there? Was there a lot? Or only one or two? did.. She pauses for a few moments. Ah.. my apologies,its just, I've so loved getting to encounter the local fauna here, and I've never seen many of these creatures. Well, drawings and the like, but not in person.... a, any way. I made some potions for us this morning, and I still have plenty of others left. Most of which I brought in my pack.
Mia pulls out a small satchel of potions and hands one to each member, and then a much larger pack filled with vials, each with a small label naming what it is.
Please, if you can use something here, take it and keep it ready.
herbal Concoctions:
1st level: potion of Air Bubble x5, 2 potions of Natures paths, 1 potions of fire belly, 2 potions of Aspect of the Falcon, 3 potions of Endure Elements, 2 potions of Speak with Animals, potions of CLW x3, 2 potions of remove sickness, potion of goodberry x2, potion of Shielagh x2, 2 ant haul potion, 2 potions of Touch of the sea, 3 potions of heightened awareness
2nd level:
(CL4)5 aboleth's lung, 5 barkskin potions, 5 bull's strength, 5 cat's grace potions, 3 potions of bear's endurance, 4 delay poison potion, 4 potion of resist energy (fire), 4 potion of resist energy (cold), 4 Potions of resist Energy (electricity), 4 potions of resist energy (acid), 2 potion of lay of the land, 2 potions of animal aspect, 2 potions of Fog Cloud, potion of lesser restoration x3,5 potions of spider climb, 1 potion of greensight,
Dorick prioritises making sure that Caragus is calm on the group's river journey.
He then adds:
"A mantis that large would be quite the foe! But at least it should be visible from quite a distance."
Tarlach is at first surprised by the formerly quiet Mia's excitement over the animals, but he soon puts on a smile as her enthusiasm spread.
"The gray ones in the river sure did have a big mouth! And not just a child could fit inside. Those things could probably swallow me in one gulp if they were so inclined. The other gray ones that stick near the forest are another matter. I couldn't really see their mouths because of the big, long, snake-like noses they have hanging down. I wouldn't want to mess with them, either, based upon the pair of long, white tusks they got."
As the fisherman elaborates upon his observations, Mia deduces that he is describing two separate creatures. The ones that favor the water are clearly hippopotami, while the ones who prefer the somewhat solid ground of the Sogg would seem to be elephants.
What's more, after coaxing a few more details from Tarlach regarding the reptilian creatures, Mia is inclined to identify them as crocodiles.
Tarlach navigates the skiff through the sandbars and islets that populate the broad river delta. He also keeps clear of the reeds that grow both in dense stands along the shallows and thick mats upon the water's surface.
"Don't want to give anything the chance to leap out and surprise us, right?" the fisherman explains.
Dorick does his best to help Kalig keep watch for threats.
He was idly listening to the man as they made their way on the skiff. He was doing his best to not feel too sea sick. The description of the creatures made him smile, and he couldnt help but wonder what their meat might taste like. He would have to speak to some of the hunters to see if he couldnt arrange a hunt to give it a try.
"If the meat on those creatures isnt terrible, a creature that size could help feed the town if need be, remind me to get a smoke house built soon. Wouldnt want to destroy our salt stores so soon. "
Um..the hide is usually extremely tough, and while I don't know for sure, the meat is likely to be similar. Though an expert cook like you may make a meal from it. She gives a soft smile before looking back, eyes peeled for any signs of the animals. She soon spies one making its way over.
I think thats one of them now. Um, Its coming toward us, oh, its very big.
Kalig mutters a curse at Mia's warning and casts guidance on Dorick.
Once attention is called to the approaching creature, based upon the size, shape, depth, and behavior, Mia and Kalig correctly identify it as a hippopotamus as opposed to an elephant or crocodile. This may be the worst possibility, though, since they are also familiar with tales out of Garund and the Mwangi Expanse of these mighty animals charging and capsizing small boats, leading to the maiming or killing of the occupants.
"If anyone wants to help me paddle, now'd be a good time!" Tarlach calls out as he redoubles his own efforts to propel the skiff away from the hippo.
Seeing it is a creature slightly less likely to want to eat them, Kalig casts speak with animals and calls out to the hippo.
"We are just crossing, we do not challenge your territory. We fight harder than we look. Leave us be and you and yours will be safe." She tosses a goodberry into the water.
Dorick paddles hard.
The goodberry proves too small a treat to appease the hippo, who continues to lumber beneath the water towards the skiff. Fortunately, the added strength of Francoix and Dorick serves to put more distance between the vulnerable craft and the approaching behemoth.
Caragus begins to stir, growing nervous as the hippo gets closer. Despite the loyal steed's training, being confronted with such an intimidating and unknown creature leaves the horse agitated.
Mia soothes the startled horse, keeping his hooves steady lest they rock the boat and cast someone into the water.
With the extra muscle power provided by Francoix and Dorick, the skiff slips past just as the hippo breaches the surface menacingly.
Tarlach steers the skiff into a deeper stretch of water, where the beast has much more difficulty pursuing you. The ornery animal breaks off its pursuit and lumbers back towards a nearby sandbar.
"By Deadeye's antlers! That was some scary s#&!e!" the fisherman exclaims. "Thank you kindly. Without your help, I never could've made it past that behemoth. I sure hope his brothers don't frequent the far banks."
"We'll be more alert. They should at least be large enough out of the water we can see them coming."
"Let us not get caught be them."