Once a general consensus has been reached, Yanistah eagerly climbs her way back on the top of the cliff, offering to haul up whoever would make such a request.
As the scouting party proceeds forward, she stays on the look-out for plants or fruits which might constitute a viable meal, occasionally consulting with Eizzach and Xabala to help her discern the edible ones.
Vazio is still worried about that big nest we saw. He will spend his time while traveling scanning the skies for any signs of trouble.
"I have no problems with that. Should anyone become hurt I can heal light injuries."
During one of the times in which they stop to rest, Malthu approaches Lalaru with a meek demeanor.
"May I speak to you for a moment?" Malthu looks like he wants to talk alone.
"I apologize for my actions back at the camp. I...am still lacking in my understanding on the behavior of others, all I wanted to do was motivate her. I still have a lot to learn it seems."
"Will you forgive me?" he asks sincerely.
"That will come when the time is right. For now, I strive to stay alert in this strange jungle."
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"Seems pretty normal for a jungle to me."
"I meant unfamiliar to me. I don't know the dangers here. We'll see soon enough what the island has in store for us, one way or another."
-Posted with Wayfinder
You make your way back up the cliffs and follow it along the ocean. Around 10 o'clock you come to another bluff. This one turns inland. From the cliff's edge, you can see a small campsite, a quarter mile along the beach. A quarter mile inland, along the cliff's edge, you can see a river.
Eizzach shades his eyes from the sun's glare and points in the direction of the beach.
"I'm not the only one seeing that campsite, am I? There's someone else here! Or at least, someone was here recently; I would think the remains of a camp would be lost to the elements after too long a time."
"Indeed - the first actual sign of living people on this wretched island. Though as Lalaru very... eloquently put it, we still don't know whether they're friends or foes. Let me go ahead and do a little bit of scouting. If I'm not back before the turning of the hour, presume the worst" Yani volunteers, taking a few vigorous strides in the campsite's general direction before abruptly stopping and turning, as if she's suddenly remembered something important.
"In which case... come looking for me, will you?" she asks in a pleading voice.
Yani climbs down the cliff and cautiously approaches the campsite. As she gets closer, it sends obvious that the campsite is abandoned, though she finds a tricorn hat much like the one captain Kovak's and several colorful scarves like those of Ieana's.
A bunch of conflicting feelings assail Yanistah's mind. At first, a surge of joy pervades her, as she realizes they're not the only survivors of the Jenivere's shipwreck. But then, as she remembers the contents of the captain's log, this sense of happiness is progressively replaced by darker emotions, doubt, and even fear.
So this is where they landed. Less than half a day's march from the beach where Alton brought us ashore. All things considered, they must have left this place no sooner than a day ago; I wonder where they went.
Unwilling to push her luck any further, she instead opts to make her way back to the others, but not after taking the scarves and the tricorn hat with her.
After a little while, her fellow castaways witness that same tricorn hat slowly emerging from the cliff's edge, followed shortly by Yani's face and body immediately underneath.
"Look at me, ye bunch of worthless knaves. I'm captain Kovack, and I like strict discipline, the Thice-Damned House of Thrune, and wrecking my own ship as I'm too busy pining after a pretty Varisian face" she quips, caressing the scarves to stress her last point.
"Fear not, my fair Ieana" Yani jokingly indulges the enthusiastic merfolk in her antics, all the while striking her best arms-akimbo, chin-pointing-upwards pose. "Be it kobold or dragon, now that we've disposed of my own crew I shall fight whatever monster would dare stand in our way, so as make this hellish vermin-infested island in the middle of nowhere our love nest, now and forever!"
Eizzach give a half-sarcastic clap at Yanistah's and Lalaru's impromptu performance.
"Bravo. You two should take that one on the road to Andoren. In the meanwhile, 'Cap'n,' do you think that it's safe to proceed to the campsite?"
"Aye, bos'n Eizzach... I mean, yes. Yes, I've found no trace of them actually being nearby - just this hat and these scarves they probably found little use in in such a hot climate. The fact they so sloppily abandoned them for anyone to find tells me they probably believe themselves the sole survivors of the shipwreck. Which is probably a good thing, I reckon".
"It's not all that it's cracked up to be," he says conversationally to the mermaid. "I've seen many a companion lose a hand or other body part to an over-eager ransacking."
"Very true, Master Eizzach. I myself have been a very close witness to pretty nasty things happening to over-eager hands poking where they shouldn't. As in all things, a safe, proper ransacking should aim to strike the right balance between justifiable fervor and dutiful judgement on behalf of all parts involved, wouldn't you agree?" Yani casually says, picking up on Eizzach's own conversational tone.
"Though I doubt it's going to be an exciting first time for any of us, Lalaru. Other than what I've brought with me, a pile of ashes was the only thing they left behind. There was a trail of tracks leading off towards the interior, but by now I'd say they have a full-day head-start over us - and as much as I'd like to have a few words with Captain Kovack and his mysterious Varisian flame, I'd rather focus on our immediate survival and finding a way out of this island. Soon the midday heat is going to be upon us, and I for one am certainly thirsty" she adds, turning serious once again and pointing towards the nearby river.
Xabala frowns. "So the ones who may have been behind the crash are here on the island? From the entries the the man's journal, it seems the captain was either dangerously smitten or enchanted. Either way, we should investigate their camp instead of talking about it. There may be clues as to what had happened, or where they may be."
"If such clues are actually to be uncovered there, I wasn't able to find them. Though I understand if you're not willing to simply take my word for it - perhaps your knowledge of the mystical arts will allow you to see what my eyes were blind to" Yani respectfully replies to the dusky Mwangi witch-woman.
She ponders for a little while, and then she speaks again. "Enchanted, you say, Lady Xabala? That would make a lot of sense - Captain Kovack might have been a bit rigid and sometimes outright unpleasant when dealing with us members of the crew, but I wouldn't have gone so far as to call him inept or evil. Do you think that Varisian scholar, that Ieana, might command the necessary arcane power?"
"I'd bet you'd get along great with our bouncers Mr. Bitters."
"Perhaps, Miss Lalaru. Incidentally," he adds gently, "it's 'Bitterbalm'; no offense taken, though."
"I wouldn't count on your correction to stick for too long, Master Eizzach" Yani jokingly interjects. "Our good Lady Lalaru, here, has a way with nicknames. I haven't been graced with one yet - which makes me more than a little frightened with what she's eventually going to come up with."
"I resign myself to my fate, then." he answers Yanistah. "And as for your earlier query, while I would like to know where those tracks lead, we shouldn't stray to far from our intended way back. If you need a drink, we might as well head for the river."
The group moves along the cliff to the river, then begins to follow the river. You come to a fork in the river, and look across. Nestled in the crook where the two rivers meet, there is a large patch of thorny vines.
Xabala pauses to look at the patch of thorns. "These belong to the viper needle... The berries tend to be found inside... if we could just get through those poisonous thorns... Perhaps someone with a blade could, carefully, cut them away to allow me to harvest the berries?"
"We've found the water, and we've found the viper nettles. Just as you said, Lady Xabala" Yani says in admiration as she crouches and fills her cupped hands with water.
As alien as this place might seem to me, so it must feel familiar to her.
Seeing Lalaru zealously chopping thorny branches left and right, she asks Malthu for his pair of spare daggers to join her in her effort.
"Could I borrow your daggers for a while, Malthu? I'm afraid my usual approach doesn't work very well with bushes" she says, feigning a couple of punches thrown in the patch's direction.
Eizzach smiles as he watches the others begin to move on the bush with gusto.
"Well, when in Oppara," he says, removing the sickle he carries for just such a purpose and kneeling down to help with the harvest.
"Sure thing." he says as he hands a dagger to Yani. "Did you need more than one?"
"The more the merrier" she replies, weighting the blades in her hands and smirking in approval.
"And thank you!" she adds, as she starts hacking with both daggers at the thorny patch.
Once Lalaru and Yani have cleared the bush, Xabala assists with the collection of the berries for the pirate woman Aerys.
Yani, Lalaru, Eizzach and Malthu work to clear the thorns. Lalaru is the only one who doesn't get scratched during this process. It is noon by the time the patch is cleared, starting to get hot. Malthu and Eizzach are starting to show a red rash covering their bodies, but Yani seems to bear no ill effect. The berries are harvested, they are large red berries that seem as if they'd be delicious. But there is only a handful. Enough to treat miss Aerys.
"I hope they're worth all the effort we put into harvesting them" Yanistah says, wiping the sweat off her brow as she more closely examines the odd-looking berries Xabala collected. "Though if they help cure miss Mavato's addiction, I don't regret a single scratch. It would pain me to see such a proud woman drink her life away".
As the midday heat begins to wash over the scouting party, Yanistah searches for solace under the shadow of the trees bordering the riverbanks, from time to time dipping her bare feet into the stream's running waters.
"Is everything all right, Master Eizzach?" she asks the gnome as she notices the rash starting to spread over his body.
Eizzach frowns as he examines the rash on his skin, obviously in discomfort.
"Frankly my dear, I don't think so," he admits honestly to Yanistah. "Damned fool that I am, I must have nicked myself on those thorns."
It might be worth moving our campsite to somewhere near here. At least we would have plenty of fresh water. It would also put our base nearer at hand. If we are planning to explore the rest of this island, it would help not to have to march back up a peninsula every evening.
Eizzach frowns as he examines the rash on his skin, obviously in discomfort.
"Frankly my dear, I don't think so," he admits honestly to Yanistah. "Damned fool that I am, I must have nicked myself on those thorns."
"If that makes you a fool, you're in good company then" Yani lightheartedly replies, showing hew own scrapes. "It looks like the only one who managed to come out of this unscratched is our very nimble Lady Lalaru, there" she says, pointing at the merfolk lady blissfully splashing among the currents.
It might be worth moving our campsite to somewhere near here. At least we would have plenty of fresh water. It would also put our base nearer at hand. If we are planning to explore the rest of this island, it would help not to have to march back up a peninsula every evening.
Yani ponders a little on Vazio's words, then she speaks. "This is actually a very good idea, Master Vazio. Moreover, an inland camp would keep us safer against whatever creature might crawl up from the sea. Once the heat recedes, we carry on our scouting by going back to our current camp following an inland path - if the others agree, come tomorrow this hour we might all be sitting not far from here, only with a fully set up camp around us."
She pauses for a short while before pointing her finger north. "Personally, I'd suggest we choose a location not even half a mile upstream from here, right at the top of the cliff we just climbed down. This way, we'll hold the higher ground against any potential threat coming from the mainland."
"Sounds reasonable enough," Eizzach admits. "Especially since we've yet to discover what manner of creature we're sharing this part of the island with."
"My thoughts exactly. After the air has gotten a little less torrid, I'd like to follow this river upstream until we reach its springs. We might then make our way back to the camp along this plateau's western ridge, make sure the area is safe enough before having everyone move here" she says, using a stick to sketch a rough map of their surroundings in the soft jungle soil.
"By the way, Master Eizzach, you wouldn't happen to have some ink & pen with you, would you? I think it might be a good idea to start drawing a more detailed map of Smuggler's Shiv as we explore it - the one we salvaged from the Jenivere depicts this island as little more than a vague shape in the middle of Desperation Bay".
"Good thinking, Yanistah. I happen to have some right--ah, here we are..."
He gingerly hands the Shoanti woman the items as well as a broad strip of sailcloth for writing upon, and is careful not to let his spreading rash come into contact with them as he does so.
"I'm afraid that among my many talents, mapmaking isn't one of them, though."
The gnome looks even more ill for a moment, and then politely excuses himself from the group to seek some nearby shade. While there he busies himself with the contents of his satchel, and the smell of medicine wafts on the breeze from his direction.