Dropping his readied stance, Lionel straightened back up, hands hanging uselessly at his knees. Blinking in surprise as the dormant volcano they called Kayle erupted, he slowly drifted into a stance akin to a scolded schoolboy, scratching his neck and almost managing to look harmless. "Aint nothin' disrespectful about Bonny , erh, ma'am. Means nice..." He looked away. "Or pretty...sometimes."
Returning to his senses, he put on a defiant scowl, crossing his arms. "But he started it. I aint lookin' for a fight! Not that I wont oblige him if he insists."
Kayle arches an eyebrow and folds her arms. "You both started it. Ishirou, you've been nothing but moping around here. We will get off of this island, one way or another. But we won't be getting off of it if we don't work together. Some of us will explore and try to piece together how to get off while the rest of us maintain a clean, and safe, camp environment. We need to avoid getting sick or starving out here. And avoid getting attacked by more packs of poisonous flying monsters."
"Pretty..sometimes?" Kayle's smile is mischevious and she rolls her eyes. "I'd like to think all the time, at least. It doesn't do to be antagonizing one another, so that didn't help either Lionel. You don't have to like each other, but you have to at least tolerate one another. We need everyone-"
And here, Kayle turns her glower to Ishirou. "-working to keep us all alive. Or I'll see how many spells it takes to knock out a grumpy samurai and an angry pirate then ask Sasha to string you up by your feet for the night!"
Gathien does his best to not smile... and laugh... as Kayle calls both men to task for their behaviour. Some longshanks really make it seem like there's just not enough blood to reach their brains way up there...
Sil remains quite through the fight, hoping things do not come to blows. He looks a bit uncomfortable about the squabble and tries to stay out of the way.
The other castaways have been silent at this point, watching the argument tensely once Ishirou's blade was drawn. At Kayle's scolding, though, Ishirou takes a deep breath and relaxes his shoulders, lowering his sword slightly so it points at the ground. Sasha comes over to reinforce Kayle's point, saying, "Don't think I won't string you up, either! I'm not above using you two as bait," she jokes with a nervous smile. Ishirou grunts in annoyance, but returns his finely crafted blade to its sheath.
Turning to Kayle, he gives a slow, polite nod. "You are right, of course," he admits, "and I apologize for my behavior. I will do more to aid the camp from now on, you have my word. I could patrol the perimeter, or start working on some traps to deter invaders, whichever you prefer."
He then walks over to Lionel, giving him a more curt nod. "I will start pulling my weight around here. I forfeit my challenge to you for now, but I will remember this. Disrespect me to that degree again, and I will not hesitate to draw my blade again. Good evening."
-----
Sticky's vigilant watch reveals no attackers in the night.
With no need to forage for water, Sasha provides more than enough food for everyone.
Due to the riled tempers and tenseness of the camp, Gelik decides to join Aerys in bolstering the camp's morale, adding comic quips to her poetic recitations.
Jask does his best to pick up the medical slack, and he does an admirable job--still, everyone ends up with a few more mosquito bites than usual.
Lionel drifts off the sleep.... Suddenly, he is back aboard the Jenivere, bent over the railing being seasick. After his latest bout of retching, he slumps back and sees the rest of the passengers and crew are on deck as well, all of them sick save for the captain and the quiet Varisian scholar Ieana. She whispers in the captain’s ear, then gives him a kiss on the cheek. At that point the captain holds up a wooden soup spoon, and Lionel realizes that he’s holding one as well. Everyone has a spoon. The ship is sinking, and the only way to stop it is to bail out the hold with her spoon! He works feverishly, but the waters keep rushing in. He can see monstrous things with pincers in the water trying to claw their way into the ship...but then he wakes up gasping, the sun just starting to rise.
Everyone seems to be feeling better since yesterday, with the exception of Sasha. Taking care of the dimorphodon seems to have left her with little time to sleep; she has bags under her eyes, and is especially jumpy. She approaches Lionel as he wakes, whispering, "Ready to learn how to fight like a Mantis?"
The next morning Sil wakes and goes through his usual routine. Sticky is waiting for him after patrolling the camp all night. "So, the tracks? I believe that was the consensus?"
Nodding, satisfied with Ishirou's response, Kayle arches an eyebrow at Lionel expecting a similar apology.
"Keeping an eye out for more scurrying poisonous monsters from the jungle beyond would be a swell idea, Ishirou. Thank you for offering to help! And don't despair, we're totally going to find a way off the island!"
She'll leave the two of them and wink at Sasha. "Thanks for the backup there."
---------------------
In the morning
---------------------
"We could, Sil, but Sasha offered to show us a thing or two if we practice with her today. The tracks were old, so perhaps we can look into it tomorrow?"
Gathien suggests, "I'd like to see what's out there -- do we have any idea how long Sasha's lesson will be?"
"Hey, you lot!" Sasha calls out, approaching the other jungle explorers. "If you're ready for training, we should start now. We'll go until it gets too hot, take a lunch, then keep training until dinner. I'm sure you'll get it by then. There's uh...something else I want to tell you all, too. After you eat, meet me on the beach where we woke up. I'll bring that fishing net you all found, so we can just say we're getting food. Even if you don't want to train today, meet me there for a sec, all right?" With that, Sasha grabs the fishing net as promised, and heads north.
Gathien shrugs, and then smiles, "Or, apparently, the tracks can wait another day after all." He checks his equipment and adjusts his pouches and then heads north.
Lionel puffed up his chest at Ishirous promise, looking him in the eye. "As long as you dont act a fool I wont even be speakin' to you. Any further disrespect to you will be your own doin'."
Turning to walk to bed as he had originally intended, he caught Kayles look. He simply scowled and crossed his arms defiantly. Then, finally, he went to bed.
Shaken by his dream, Lionel jumped with fright at Sashas whisper. Realizing he was awake and it had all been a dream, he steadied himself, brushing at his pants nonchalantly, in an attempt to take her focus off his rather unmanly reaction. "Should I mention the dream? Nawh, nothin' but poison induced nightmares. Been days since Ive been free of toxins after all. Odd thing about Ieana. What was that about?"
"You sure you shouldn't get some sleep first there Sasha? Your trainin' wont be much use if you pass out on us halfway through."
"Sure. Are we fishing? That sounds fun!"
Sasha shakes her head at Lionel. "Can't sleep. Had to take care of that little one you all brought me, plus I've been having some nightmares since we landed here. Anyway, I'll be fine," she asserts, although she seems to be wringing her hands nervously and unconsciously. She moves on, though, to inform the others and get set up at the beach.
-----
On the sand where you first woke up, Sasha has you all set up the fishing net in the waves, anchored to shore, while she ties off her new venomous pet to a nearby tree. Once that's done, the redhead begins: "Right, so, the reason I was on the Jenivere was some business with the Red Mantis. For those of you not in the know, the Red Mantis are some of, if not the most powerful and deadly assassins in the Inner Sea. Among their ranks is my mother. Now before you get too jumpy, you should know that although being sent to Eleder on 'Red Mantis business' isn't exactly exile from Ilizmagorti, Mom made it pretty clear that I wasn't welcome back when she left me with only nine fingers." Sasha wiggles her four-fingered hand in front of her, her brow knit with a sudden, burning, and brief anger.
"Anyway, I've decided to make the most of this little adventure. This horrifying little island wasn't exactly part of the plan, but I guess that's just how it goes," she mutters, shuddering. She quickly regains her brightness and energy, though, smiling mischievously. "Well, anyway, just because I got kicked out of the Red Mantis doesn't mean I can't still fight like one. And the most important part of fighting is, of course, to stab your enemy to death before they can fight back. Now, first thing is to relax your muscles..."
You all spend the day training, minus a reprieve for lunch once the day becomes too hot, uninterrupted. By the end, you're all tired but have picked up a nice, new little trick to bolster your reflexes in combat. At dusk, Sasha beams at you. "Damn, you all learn pretty quick! I think even that little tree of yours picked it up, Sil. Huh? Oh, damn it," Sasha says as the sky grows dark gray with clouds and drops of water start to fall. "Let's get this net pulled in before it starts to get really rainy," Sasha suggests. It proves to be a fairly futile thing to say, because the rain picks up within minutes to a torrential downpour. You all pull the net in and head back to camp--you even manage to bring in enough fish to feed people (and twice that many Geliks).
Exhausted and soaked, Kayle is still in a good mood. "Fish for dinner! I know we'll get bored of it eventually, but I hardly got any fish back home. I love fish! Oh, I'll cook! And Sasha, thank you for that. By the way..who did you get kicked out of the Red Mantis?"
If allowed to cook, she ends up barely succeeding at making it palatable. []b]"..Next time someone else can cook."[/b]
The next morning
"Alright..let's head back to those footprints. Hopefully the rain didn't wash all of them away.."
Wiping his brow, Lionel looked uncharacteristically content, apparently enjoying the weariness after a hard days fighting. "And here I was thinkin' bein' marooned would be borin'! Nice showin' Sasha. Guess them Mantis aint all talk and no bite." He flashed a smile, an overly manic one with too much teeth. "Never knew I was this slow on the uptake. Back in the Shackles, I was never amongst the first over the railin' believe it or not."
He busied himself with the net as he continued. "If I had my way it would have been different of course, but captain Rufus was pretty strict about it." His mood seemed to sour as he remembered his recent past. "Swabbies and newbies go first, to prove themselves, and truth be told, take all the fire." He seemed to brighten up at his next remark. "Then the real fighters get stuck in once combat is joined!"
Done packing the net, he slung it over his shoulder and took his time walking back, enjoying the downpour.
Having spent the morning giving Ishirou the stink eye, Lionel was quick to join the circle as plans were made. "No objections here. Lighthouse aint goin' nowhere, but the prints might."
Gathien practices hard, pleased not only to be learning Sasha's tricks, but to be treated as an able warrior instead of a joke.
When all is done, he nods cheerily at Sasha's statement, deliberately ignoring the darkness that washed over her for a moment, Let's see if that passes faster than these rains..., and says cheerfully, "Indeed. We're here and it seems we may as well make the best of it.... and these little tricks will certainly help with that as well."
Gathien checks his gear and pouches, but then winces at Lionel's statement, "I worry that they already have, after last night's rains. Still, I think we're due a little good luck sometime soon.."
Ishirou stays up a little later than usual to keep watch with Sticky. There's plenty of rustling in the bushes, but it's hard to say whether it's anymore than usual. In any case, the night passes without incident.
Gelik and Aerys continue to try to keep morale high with their respective tales through the rain.
Even the rain can't keep all the bugs away.
With the taste of burnt fish still in her mouth, Kayle drifts off to sleep, but when she awakes, she’s sitting down in the galley aboard the Jenivere getting ready for her meal. The ship’s cook has given her a steaming bowl of soup, but she drops her spoon. She sees that the deck below is covered with seawater up to her ankles, and her dropped spoon has sunk into the water and washed out to sea through a hole. She’s forced to lift her delicious bowl of soup to her lips and drink. But something big goes into her mouth as she does so, and she feels a sharp bite on her tongue. She drops the bowl, only to reveal a serpent had hidden in her soup that now dangles from her tongue as it chews furiously. She starts awake, biting her own tongue in an attempt to bite through the snake’s body...
"Let's follow where they went. I'd like to meet the owner of these tracks if we can. We need to know who else is on this island. Come on, Sticky!"
Gathien nods, "I agree -- we can always follow the backtrail later, if need be."
Following their route from yesterday, the exploration group finds the bushwhacking a bit easier, and they reach the tracks they found yesterday in just a few hours walking. Following the tracks to the southwest, they reach the river that flows from the cliff above. The tracks come to a fork, where the river splits into eastern- and western-flowing streams.
Across the twenty-foot wide river is a large grove of thorny vines. This patch rises to become a seven-foot tall wall of green leaves and intimidating six-inch red thorns.
The tracks follow the river south, and the explorers get about a mile down before the sun reaches its peak, forcing a rest to avoid the unbearable heat.
The heat dies down after a couple of hours, as it always does, and the tracking continues. The trail leads up a small ridge, then doubles back instead of trying to go over the cliff to the south.
Eventually, the tracks follow the river to where it empties out into the ocean. The tracks turn west, toward and most likely across the river. To the east, however, there is what looks to be the remains of a shipwreck washed up on the beach.
"Oh! Those are Viper Nettles. Their berries can cure alcohol sickness..but the thorns are poisonous. Do we want to try getting some for Aerys?"
Gathien nods, "I think that's a wise decision -- we've only the one bottle at the moment -- and from what I recall of Old Dunstan back home, people under stress with access to a bottle don't always wean themselves very well."
"Ah yes! Viper Nettles! I recognize it too. Why don't we just let Sticky gather them? He shouldn't be affected by their poison so he can harvest them for us."
"Go on, Sticky, get the berries."
"Come on now, right in there."
"Go ahead."
"Really now!"
"Sticky! Are you paying attention?"
"There you go! Good little sapling!"
---
After following the tricks around and seeing them double back, Sil notes, "This ridge appears to be the hunting grounds of a giant snake; look at the bones and pieces of shed skin littering the bushes and some of the trees. I think that whatever snake makes its territory here may be even larger than the one we fought before."
---
Looking at the tracks in one direction and the shipwreck in the other, Sil asks, "Well, what do we do first? Check out the shipwreck for clues? Or keep tracking?"
This animated tree's bark is knotted into vaguely humanoid features, with branches for arms and roots for legs
"If it aint deadly poison like you say, I could just power through and get em." Lionel said, sizing up the thorns with an appraising eye. "Assumin' of course ol' Sticky here aint up for the task."
Sticky returns from the thorny brambles, his gnarled wooden "arms" holding a dozen handfuls of viper nettle berries.
"Well ill be damned if ol' Sticky aint the most useful, uh, "person" amongst us!" Lionel said with a laugh, slapping the sapling encouragingly on the back. "Seem the little lads been doin' all the work these past few days dont it?"
Turning to the decision at hand, Lionel looked at the wreck. "I reckon the only reason those tracks dont head to the wreck, is because whoever came through here had already emptied it out at some other time." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "But I dont think we can really afford to assume anythin'. Would be nice to get some more tools. I think we need to check it out."
Glancing at the river, and then at the shipwreck, Kayle nods. "Lionel..I think we just agreed on something. Look, progress!"
With a laugh, she walks toward the wreck, assuming its close enough to walk to without swimming. "Let's take a look and see what we can find. Oh! Look for the ship's name. Jask asked us to find the Brine Demon, if we can."
"Sounds like a plan!" Sil says enthusiastically, glad the party is warming up to his treant friend.
As the party approaches the ruined vessel, they see it is a 90-foot long shipwreck leaning against the cliff side and several jagged reefs, encrusted with salt and moss. The masts remain, but the sails have rotted off. At the bow, a leering demonic figurehead of green-caked brass provides an intimidating greeting.
The numerous barnacles and salt build ups, along with a tilted angle of the rotting hull provide relatively easy climbing access to the deck. The spongy wood creaks with each step; Kayle places her foot in just the wrong place, and crashes through the deck into a room below.
She tumbles into a rotten desk, sending soggy wood splinters flying. As she moves to get up, sore with the fall, she sees a single skeleton lying on the floor next to her, clutching a well-made, evidently watertight darkwood coffer with a bony hand and a rusty hook. Enough of the desk remains to discern that this coffer apparently rests not only in the hands of the dead, but a secret compartment in one of the now half-broken drawers. It is locked, but the mechanism is rusty.
The gold locket is well-crafted but elegantly simple on the outside. Inside is an intricately detailed portrait of a beautiful half-elf woman with long, red hair. An inscription in the gold beneath the portrait identifies this woman as "Aeshamara."
The dagger is thin and remarkably sharp-looking, with a pommel wrapped in soft black leather.
The ledgers and journals reveal, with even a cursory read, collusion between Avret Kinkarian and a half-dozen Sargavan and Bloodcove officials. They appear to have been skimming off taxes and tithes owed to the Free Captains of the Shackles. These provide irrefutable proof (among other things) of Jask Derindi's innocence.
Gathien calls down, "Kayle, are you ok?", and starts uncoiling the rope in his pack to give her a way out. "We should try to find something a little more solid than these floorboards to tie it to, especially if any of us are going down there to help her."
Sil makes sure Kayle is fine before sending Sticky to break open the compartment.
"No, not really!" The fall had almost knocked her to disabled. I can't really climb so if you're going to throw a rope down here, make some knots for me to clamber up!
"No need to tie it off, just have her tie it to herself and we haul her up." Lionel muttered, grabbing hold of Gathiens rope in anticipation for the haul.
"Here, Kayle, you look hurt."
Ew. You are not hauling me up like a bloody box of cargo. I'll find my own way up then."
Looking over the contents of the box, she nods approvingly. "Thank you for the healing, Sil!. Looks like we were right to set Jask free. He'll appreciate that we found this."
She'll then hold one hand over the items and snap her fingers. Her eyes glow a pale blue as she looks over them. Detect Magic Spellcraft to identify, if necessary
Under Kayle's spell, the dagger lights up as magical. She easily determines that this is a +1 Dagger. In the rest of the captain's cabin, there is nothing that is not rotten or rotting. The door is swelled with seawater and the humid ocean air, but it yields with a forceful push. The rest of the interior of the ship is similarly rotten, although unusually empty. There are no other human remains, skeletal or otherwise, suggesting that the rest of the crew made it off the ship (which, according to the records in the coffer, is almost certainly the Brine Demon). Whether they were the ones who looted the interior (missing the captain's box for whatever reason) is less clear. In any case, there are stairs up to a sagging trap door, which opens creakily back to the top deck.
Wincing and stretching her newly healed leg, Kayle glances back to the beach. "Shall we follow the tracks for a wee bit longer, then return to camp?"
Tossing the dagger in one hand, the arcanist glances to the party. "Anyone have a use for a magic dagger or should I hold on to it?"
"Maybe Sil?" Lionel musted, looking at the elfs brass knuckles. "No offense there, but if we run into somethin' you wont mind killin', a magic dagger would likely do more good than that punching iron of yours."
Looking down the way the tracks were headed, he nodded. "I think we got enough daylight left to have a go at it."
"Sure! I'll take it if you think I'll get the most use out of it. Thanks guys!"
"We don't have enough daylight to return to camp though. Not unless we feel like traipsing around the jungle in the dark."
The explorers press on further west, crossing the river and following the tracks along the base of a tall ridge. They reach a valley between two ridges by the time the sun has completely disappeared, and find a suitable place to make camp for the night, nestled in a small jungle grove. As they start a small campfire and secure the camp's perimeter, they find something odd. Tangled in the branches of a nearby tree is the corpse of a small monkey. It has large puncture wounds in its body, although for the size of the wounds, there is very little mess around it. A closer inspection reveals that the lack of mess is due to the primate's shriveled body having been almost completely drained of blood.
"Ew! What happened to this thing.." Kayle draws on her Arcanamirium learning. What kind of creatures, other than the obvious vampire, live in jungle terrain and feed on blood?
The puncture wounds in this monkey's corpse are larger and more numerous than a humanoid vampire's would be. Kayle has read about certain magical beasts, the chupacabras, small reptilian creatures that attack prey and drain them of their blood. These particular fang marks are much larger than the typical chupacabra's bite would be, though...