Leaving the body behind, you continue traveling for another hour or so. That's when Abigail notices something odd about the terrain ahead. An unusual swath of ground lies ahead. A section of ground approximately ten feet wide crossing your path looks as if it is grooved, covered with minute depressions and trampled grass. A first impression suggests a path left by hundreds of thousands of insects marching in a tight formation, but none of the plants appear to be eaten or damaged. Where the strange trail intersects with obstacles, it either splits and goes around the obstacle like water, or veers to avoid it entirely.
Tessa kneels down by the disturbance, looking for what it is and what might have made it.
Abigail studies the ground. The trail is not perfectly uniform in width, but it is consistently about 10 feet wide with some minor variances, usually where the terrain is uneven.
Tessa peers more closely, Azil guiding her to focus on important details. Close examination reveals tiny pointed impressions, like the trail was formed by hundreds of stabs from small spikes. The trail was created by hundreds of creatures or objects, rolled or rolling across the ground. Each is heavy enough to leave a slight impression but no enough to flatten the ground.
The diviner recollects an obscure reference in an Azlanti tome she read a long time ago. Some of their structures used to be protected by swarms of tiny constructs called warden jacks. A warden jack swarm comprises thousands of steel ball bearings that move in electro-thaumaturgical cohesion. Each sphere can extrude sharp spikes, which essentially transforms it into a swarm of caltrops. The creatures can navigate uneven terrain, roll up hills and very sharp slopes, and flow around and between obstacles.
Unfortunately, only this small swath of ground still bears evidence of the swarm's passing. The trail quickly becomes too indistinct to follow further.
It's difficult to tell how long ago these tracks were made. Rain has washed away most of the trail, but it probably was within the past week.
"More constructs," Arma says quietly, considering also the one that was in the government building. "That swarm suit could actually come in handy if we run into these things, and the alchemist's fire, too. But, now that I consider it, how are these still even functional? And what could they be guarding out here?"
Relia shivers as she sees the trampled ground, and listens to Tessa's explanation of the swarm. "That doesn't sound pleasant. An army of small creatures who aren't natural. How would we fight that? Let's hope we don't run across them."
Musing on the questions the trail's discovery has raised, you continue on. A light rain falls as you walk, though it only lasts about an hour before the sun returns. You emerge back onto the island's shoreline for the last bit of the trek. The shoreline arcs to the northwest until it hooks sharply south like a bird's beak to form a small cape. Anchored offshore is the Peregrine. Pulled up on the shore is a ship's boat, evidence of a landing party.
Ramona Arvandth waits near the boat, accompanied by a few sailors and colonial soldiers. When she sees you coming, she rises to her feet quickly to greet you.
"You're here. That's a relief. We had some...unexpected problems. I'll tell you about it, but first I'd like to hear your report on the colony. What did you discover?"
"Let's see... a poltergeist, a sword, a clockwork spy, a few monkey goblins, a couple of ankhegs, a gremlin, a choker, and a few documents and letters that suggest the colony was getting ready to tear itself apart had.... whatever not happened." Tessa thinks for a few moments, "Oh, and I found a new spellbook. That was good."
Ramona's eyes widen a bit. "Wow. That's...quite a bit going on. What about the state of the colony itself? Are the buildings mostly intact? Did they plant crops? Are there tools and equipment still there?"
Tessa thinks, her eyes staring off into space as she recounts their observations, "The buildings are in excellent condition, except for some of the houses, which didn't have doors. Most all of the tools, so far as I could tell, were still there, except for anything relating to blacksmithing. The crops have gone wild, but there should still be enough for a harvest- they just need some attention and a lot of weeding." Her eyes come back into focus as she looks around to her companions, "Am I forgetting anything?"
Ramona listens to any other comments from the rest of the group. After a moment's consideration, she nods. "Good job in dealing with all the dangerous creatures lurking about. I'm glad to hear we'll still have everything we need to survive at the colony. Although the situation is not ideal, the best course is to have the colonists disembark at Talmandor's Bounty. That is, if the ship can actually get there."
Her expression turns glum. "After we dropped you off, the Peregrine sailed almost all the way to where it is anchored now, quickly and without incident. When the ship approached the cape, however, its momentum dropped to a snail's pace, despite the fact that its sails were full of wind. The anchor wasn't lowered, they weren't dragging the keel through a sandbar, and no giant monster was sighted with the ship in its clutches. At least one sailor swam underneath the ship, but didn't report anything unusual.
"Both the ship's crew and the passengers are on edge. I believe that if whatever curse has befallen the ship were to be lifted, the nervous colonists might relax. Would you mind checking the ship and find the cause of the mysterious problem?"
Tessa wracks her memories for anything she knows of that might cause a ship to lose all of its speed.
"Hmmm... Maybe...."
Tessa recalls some obscure sailors' tales about strange fish that sometimes attach themselves to ship's hulls. Called echeneises, these major pests have the supernatural ability to sap the speed of any creature or vessel they attach to, somehow stealing fragments of time and boosting their own speed.
"Maybe you have a few echeneises on the hull? They're these strange fish that can steal time and speed from creatures and vessels they attach themselves to. They're not that big, either, I think, so they could be easy to overlook if you don't know what to look for." She turns to her companions, "Who wants to go for a swim?"
When she gets the chance, Arma speaks up, but not very loudly; just enough that Ramona can hear her. "You should know, we found some evidence that there may have been conflict between the colonists on the last ship. At the very least, something happened between Rayland Arkley and Una Hendrake; Hendrake's spellbook was hidden in his house, along with the colony's charter. We found a letter from Hendrake to another colonist indicating that a few of them would be taking a canoe and finding somewhere to hide from Arkley and his supporters until the Peregrine arrived. We found the canoe at the bottom of the sea, and it seemed to have been sunken intentionally. Something stinks."
Ramona frowns at Arma. "That is strange. I wonder what might have caused such a rift to occur. We will have to look into matters further once we have settled ourselves."
Tessa tries to remember more about echeneisii, namely their plural form, approximate danger level, other special abilities, and size.
Echeneises (singular: echeneis) are about 3 feet long and thin. They aren't very physically threatening, but they can attach to opppnents and drain their speed. This makes the victims sluggish while greatly enhancing the echeneises' celerity.
"Don't forget the ghost in the chapel who said she was murdered by Rayland Arkay. We don't know if that was Una Hendrake or someone else. They were very angry." Relia adds what she remembers to the report.
"Attack them from a distance? That's not so easy from under the water. My spells work under water just fine, but I don't have any actual damaging spells. I'm going to trust Gozreth to protect me." She taps her trident.
You board the ship's boat, and the sailors row it back to the Peregrine. Arma spends a few minutes mixing an extract and hands it to Relia before drinking one of her own. The extracts cause the women's hands to become webbed as their feet meld into flippers, allowing them to easily swim for a couple minutes.
When you are ready, you have under the water and swim beneath the ship. As you get closer, you notice two creatures attached to the bottom of the hull. These thin, colorful fish are about three feet long and have a broad, segmented sucker above their narrow mouth, which they are using to hold onto the ship. A line of spines runs down their backs.
It's as Tessa suspected: echeneises.
Just before jumping in the water, Tessa prepares herself with a quick defensive spell, sheathing her entire body in a barrier of force.
"I have a couple of spells that might also prove useful. If you want to become larger or smaller, I can assist with that easily."
She buffs her allies with the spells requested, and (if only one person wanted a buff) shrinks herself to half her size.
Tessa loves her newfound aquatic abilities, and plays around underwater for just a minute before investigating the boat. When she finally does, she ensures that she keeps her distance at first, allowing the others to occupy the echeneises before she moves in, keenly aware of what happened the last time a monster got a hold of her.
Relia asks Tessa to make her larger. She looks like a giant goddess of the sea with her larger body, and webbed hands and feet. Before she swims down she casts Bless on the party. She swims, and prepares to attack one of the echeneisses.
Towering at twice her normal size, Relia impales one of the echeneises with her trident. The strange fish thrashes about in pain, detaching from the ship's hull. Sensing danger, the second one detaches as well.
Before you can react, both fish dart towards the cleric with supernatural speed! Dodging past her opportunistic attack, they try to bite the giant woman. One manages to hit, its teeth tearing through her armor as its sucker attaches to her stomach. She feels sluggish as the creature saps her speed.
Tessa, now the size of a halfling, swims around, trying to find a place where she can target the fish without also hitting her allies- she's learned her lesson. Once she's in optimal positioning, she aims her wand and unleashes a blast of color, refracting underwater to cast all sorts of colors across them and the hull of the boat.
The echeneis closest to Tessa succumbs to the color spray, unable to do much more than swim in place. The one attached to Relia resists the spell.
Arma dives underwater and goes after the echeneis that has been stunned, stabbing at it with her dagger
Abigail stabs the echeneis attached to Relia, impaling it with her polearm. It detaches from the cleric as it thrashes about in its death throes, blood pouring out into the water.
Arma and Relia both try to stab the stunned fish, but both miss with their attacks.
Tessa swims up to the stunned echeneis, drawing her dagger and stabbing the magical fish with all her (admittedly small) might.
You converge on the echeneis, Tessa cutting with her dagger as Abigail pierces its flank with her bec de corbin. Arma drives both of her blades into the creature's back, finishing it off with a devastating double strike.
As the battle ends, Abigail spots a spots a lone grindylow bobbing just beneath the surface of the water, observing the fight. It jets off to the north, departing quickly in a stream of bubbles.
"Let's get the ship moving before something else attaches itself." Relia swims out of the water, and starts to climb on the ship.
The people aboard the Peregrine look surprised when a giant Relia hauls herself onto the ship, then lowers a hand to help a tiny Tessa up after her. As Arma and Abigail follow, the two soon return to their original sizes.
You report your success with the echeneises, but an uneasy air hangs over the ship. The tension among the passengers and sailors alike is so palpable it can be cut with a knife. You overhear whispered conversations that the expedition should be scrubbed and everyone sail back to Almas. The ship's officers and crew look sullen and apprehensive.
Ramona goes to try to calm the colonists, but it seems that she isn't having much luck. Several people are starting to talk more loudly about abandoning the expedition, feeding the sense of desperation among the group. Ramona glances at you worriedly.
"I could use a bit of help here. I don't want this to escalate to a confrontation--we need to assuage their fears."
Tessa meets with the others off to the side in a hurried meeting, discussing the situation.
"So, split up, I guess? Everyone pick a target, try and figure out what would make them calm down, then meet back up again after to figure out where to go from there? I've had some training in knowing local customs, so I might be able to read him, especially if I magically boot my ability."
Before heading off to meet with Harcourt, she quickly mutters an incantation to boost her recall and perception.
"Hello... mister Carrolby, wasn't it? Could I just ask you a quick question? What is it that makes you feel like this whole situation is hopeless, and how can we fix that?"
Harcourt is a handsome Chelish man in his late twenties. He has raven-black hair and a pale complexion, and is in good physical condition.
"I was assured before we left Almas that this island colony would be safe. I am trying to establish a successful horse breeding business here, and I intend to send for my fiance once things get in full swing. I will not be able to do so if people are vanishing left and right. If it's not safe, then we shouldn't stay here, simple as that. Otherwise, this will be a waste of time and money."
Tessa knows that the Carrolby family used to be Andoren nobility before the People's Revolution abolished the social class. She gets the sense that Harcourt has quite a high opinion of himself and likes to feel important. Asking for his help to calm the other passengers will help stroke his ego.
Faedwyr is a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and a thick beard. He has an arm wrapped protectively over the shoulders of his pregnant wife Helena, a younger woman with pale blonde hair.
"That's all well and good, but what happened to all of the original colonists? the farmer says. "It's very spooky, y'know, seeing a whole colony deserted like that. What if whatever took them away comes back for all of us? For my wife and child? Are the lot of you tough enough to keep us safe from real danger?"
"Oh my!" Helena says, gasping at the strength of Abigail's grip.
"Wow!" Faedwyr agrees. "You're as strong as an ox, lass! I don't think we'll have anything to fear with you around!"
Several other colonists murmur their agreement, though the majority still appear agitated.
Arma comes up beside Tessa to try and reason with Harcourt. She opens her mouth, and her mind goes entirely blank. "Ah, uh, hm, that is...sorry for bothering you."
Relia approaches Perrell Beys. "Sir may I ask why you think this situation cannot be salvaged? The buildings are sound, and we can find out what is going on. History shows us that little bumps in the road can be expected."
Harcourt raises an eyebrow at Arma but says nothing, mystified by the alchemist's attempt to speak.
Perrell is a short, thin woman with short-cropped red hair. Her complexion is fair with a smattering of freckles. Though only in her mid-thirties, she carries herself as if she were older. She wears a simple white shirt under her slate-colored vest.
She seems to be in the midst of a heated debate with Lyra Heatherly. The strawberry blonde half-elf is of average height and slender build, with hair pulled back into a ponytail. "Where's your sense of adventure, Perrell? Part of a mapmaker's job is to actually go to the places that they're mapping, and those aren't always safe," the half-elf says
"Adventure's all well and good," Perrell says, "up until the point where it gets you killed. Most of us aren't trained for combat. We don't know what unknown dangers are lurking on this island. What if we face something that our group won't be able to overcome? Perhaps it would be best to return to Almas and plan a new expedition to an island that is more thoroughly charted."
When Relia approaches, the scholar frowns at the cleric. "I would call the disappearance of fifty people more than a 'little bump.'"
Relia realizes that Perrell is a bit naive and sheltered, and the scholar likely has never done field work before. Smooth talking should be able to calm her down and reassure her.
"As Lyra suggests, getting in the field is important. If we leave what happens to any of the missing people who may be out there waiting for our arrival. We don't know what's out there, and we need to find out." Relia tries to say the sentence calmly, but it comes out rather abrupt and rude.
"It is not worth risking our lives to find out what happened here. For all we know, they could be dead--and we would be next!" Perrell says worriedly. Her words rile up the crowd even further. Things aren't looking good.