Riori follows as best she can, hoping that at least as her feet hover over the ground slightly it will help her from leaving a trail to follow.
You see the snake, and know enough about such animals to know that they are primarily interested in catching prey unawares. Predators are evolved to conserve energy and only go after prey that is likely to be worthwhile. Moving slowly, keeping to the firmer bits of sandbar and tree roots, Sal leads you along a path that keeps the massive anaconda from thinking you are easy prey. No doubt this creature will continue to cause you trouble down the line, but for now you have avoided a fight.
"Perhaps we should camp?" Ekote suggests as the party veers its path northward. "Unless this statue is some sort of shrine," he points at the cyclopean statue, "it is likely that we will be undisturbed. Or so I hope."
Riori collects seashells as they walk along the northern beach.
After a long day of walking and looking and getting a sense of the island, Sal squints at the shadow of the statue.
"Looks like that statue is further up onto the grass rather than down on the beach, so it's not likely to harm us either way. But it might be good to explore it fresh-eyed. Camp it is."
Sal will help build a similar camp to last time, nestling against the cliffs to help block unwanted winds.
Thren helps set up camp under Sal's supervision.
The statue is actually at the top of a 60 foot cliff which is barely visible on the map. That whole northern part of the island is a plateau with a beach at the bottom of cliffs.
As you move across the northern side of the island, you find a colony of sea lions and you see the occasional Pteranodon flying from the interior of the island to come out and dive, pelican-like, into the surf. These beasties have a wingspan of about 20 feet.
There are also sea birds that nest on the cliffs. No lack of food sources, here.
"Wow! Look at them terano-whatsits. Big lizard bird things. Good to see so many different things living here... despite the weirdness we found at the fortress, seems like normal life can survive here, which suggests no broad-range magical juju or hauntings."
Sal checks to be sure on this narrower part of the beach they won't be swamped by high tide. If it looks like they will she suggests climbing the cliffs to camp at the edge of the wood that is casting shade over them from above.
Sal finds a delightful warm spring hidden in a sheltered grotto. The water has carved a recess into the cliff, providing shelter from the elements as well as from prying eyes. Where the water bubbles up, it is hot enough to boil, and with some quick hunting, fishing, and gathering, you can put together a scrumptious fire free seafood boil.
Further away from the source, the water is cool enough to enjoy bathing without boiling your skin while still getting a nice soak, should the mood strike you.
As you have more time to eye the cyclops statue, you see that it is built in much the same way as the larger tower at the fort, and that there are battlements and windows about 40 feet above the top of the cliff. It seems likely it is some sort of watch tower, though from here you don't see anyone or anything manning it.
Thren will take the opportunity to get in a good soak though she will be in the hottest part she can handle for that. Later, when she's out and about, she'll ponder windows and battlements.
"What would someone worry about out here enough to build a tower?"
"We're talking about the ancient cyclopes, who's to know what they guarded against?" Riori says, finishing her morning coffee, perked with the hot spring water.
"I think best thing to do would be to go up in it, and see what you can see from it. It incurs risk since we know there are cyclops or something here, but we've got to tackle whatever's living here at some point."
"This island has to be claimed if I want that seat on the Council. Which I do. I don't want to share an island with cyclopes, so yes, we're going to investigate."
There is no obvious way up to the top of the cliffs from the beach. If you want to stay out of sight, the best bet would probably be to ascend here and then cross to the tower up above.
Thren looks at Sal. "I think we can just climb up ourselves and leave rope for Riori," she suggests. "Shouldn't be that tough."
After squinting at the cliff and looking up and down, Sal says, "Well conveniently the cliffs are about as high as my magic rope is long." She pulls out her rope of climbing, commands it to snake up the cliff face, where it attaches at the top. She then cuts 20 more feet off her spare rope and ties it to the end she is holding, tying the nonmagical end first into knots so that it becomes climbable (becoming a 10 foot long climbing rope). She then commands the magic rope to also knot itself in increments so it too is easier to climb; it bunches upwards. (So now the magic rope is 50 feet but with a -10 DC to climb, attached to it at the bottom is a 10 foot knotted rope that is also easy to climb).
She then climbs up the rope.
When she gets to the top she looks around.
If and when Sal sounds an all-clear, Riori follows up the rope.
The tiefling woman climbs up easily. "I'm not used to having it this easy." She laughs.
There's a smile as Ekote lets the women get going up the rope one by one. For his own part, he choose magic. One incantation later and he is airborne, flying up without trouble.
At the top of the cliff, trees and underbrush grow thick and tall, making it relatively simple to conceal your approach to the tower.
The area close to the tower shows signs of having been traversed many times by large footed humanoids. It would appear that several giants have been doing everything possible to look for any kind of food.
Drawing closer, you can see three massive humanoids, each with only a single eye. There clothes are rough made furs and skins, their weapons crude, simple bows and axes that are little more than stone strapped to limbs.
They show no sign of having noticed you.
Thren starts mouthing curses under her breath in Infernal when she sees what they're facing.
"I figured we'd run into these things sometime." The tiefling whispers to the others. She doesn't sweat very much despite the climate of the Shackles, but there's a bead of sweat on her brow now. "We need to get in close and deal with them. You ready to fight some big creatures Sal?"
Well before any approach or alerting the cyclops:
"I don't suppose parlay is an option? I don't like just charging in and whacking a thinking thing, but if you're sure..."
"The last time I was part of a 'parlay' with these things I had a spear the size of a small tree rammed through my chest and out my back, then got flung off like a bug. It took most of a priest's blessings and the amusement of the gods to keep me out of the River of Souls. Oh no, the only parlay for these things will be one where they get my points...."
Thren's fears seem to now be buried beneath a rising rage. Done expressing her opinion, the bard begins by chanting off a quick spell. Her form shimmers for a moment and she seems to take a step sideways. To follow that up, she takes a deep breath and then starts singing. Loudly. It's a favorite Andoran battle anthem this time, and there's no mistaking that one.
Riori doesn't bother arguing; she figures most cyclopes are not warm and fluffy, but needed to do her due diligence.
Indeed, she takes Thren's description of being skewered to heart and casts shield of faith on herself.
Before their approach, Sal retrieves her rope and stows it back in her haversack.
As they spot the cyclops and converse and decide to attack, and as Thren is singing very loudly, Sal says, "Welp, guess we're not sneaking up on'em. We'll as we say, guess they'd better pick on someone their own size..."
She quaffs one of her potions of enlarge person and the once diminutive chunk of muscle becomes a 10 foot wall of muscle. She steps forth from the trees, readying her ranseur effortlessly. "Ahoy! This is our island now. Run if you want to live!"
Ekote looks at the now much-larger Sal speculatively. "If you want Sal, I can get you into the fray much faster, right now, though it is of course risky...." He asks her quickly.
"Uh, if you got one o' them hasty spells, that'd be fine, but I was gonna whack'em as they come..." She tries to whisper the last part as she feels like it is much easier to be louder with twice-sized lungs.
"Fair points. You can be your namesake another time." The wizard smiles easily. He chants off a spell and points at several of the monsters.
"May your blood move as ice," he commands.
The cyclopes appear to be surprised at your sudden attack, having not noticed your approach. Suddenly slowed, three of them turn in slow motion, firing their massive bows in your direction.
Three arrows sink into the dirt around Sal.
The fourth drops his bow and unslings a massive axe from his back. As it moves, the cyclops single eye moves back and forth as though reading some sort of arcane text. It somehow knows exactly how to cut through Sal's defenses, but still its luck does not hold.
Thren continues to sing as she moves through the brush to get to Sal. Her song changes tune for a few seconds as she dives through the brush, but it never stops. Her blade comes to hand as she closes with the nearest magically-slowed cyclops. The tiefling's blade does glow red as she draws it, as if it were looking forward to the bloodletting to come.
Riori casts obscuring mist, forming a cloud of fog in front of two of the ogre archers so they cannot see to target their weapons.
She then moves through the trees to a slightly more convenient spot for future actions.
Assuming she is still standing after getting pincushioned by giant arrows, Sal gets an attack of opportunity on axe wielder (#1) as it approaches the reach of her enlarged weapon.
Screaming in a mixture of victory and pain, Sal sidesteps (5 foot step) and follows up striking the axe-wielder again.
Ekote stays along the ground and moves up through the underbrush, drawing his wand and preparing to assist Sal or Thren as needed.
The Cyclops facing Thren drops his bow and draws a massive axe, truly little more than a sharp stone lashed to a fire hardened branch. He swings it downward.
The other visible cyclops steps into the mist.
Thren watches the large brute in front of her try to react to her with comical speed for barely a second before she launches her attack on the cyclops. The tiefling continues to sing as she stabs at her foe's stomach, magic crackling down her blade....
Thren's first stab is a solid hit that comes in fast as the creature drops its bow. But her second swing bounces off the side of flat of its axe as she gets too cocky and takes too much time with her follow-up. She looks up at the much larger monster and smiles weakly.
"Uh oh." She mouths between verses.
Yes.
Riori moves over to Sal, taking out her starknife as she goes in one hand, and casts cure critical wounds on Sal. While Sal looks like she could still take a beating, Riori figures a lucky strike from one of the giants could end any of them in a moment, especially if what Thren said was true.