"I agree. We should continue our journey." Vik says grimly, looking down at her broken pistol.
"I suppose I'll have to fix that eventually...."
With the leaves cast to the wind and the jungle undergrowth finally returning to normal, the group picks itself up (or mostly Suny, in this case) and heads for the jungle. Reijo, rather uncharacteristically, leaves the shinies he'd been heading for to (entirely characteristically) offer his 'chivalrous' services to the injured elf. Between her injuries and a few tense muscles, Suny has definitely seen better days.
It is impossible to tell exactly where you're going through the jungle, but Ol' Salty leads you hurriedly in a vaguely westward direction. You make fairly good progress until you hear the rushing of water and step through a particularly thick and thorny patch of bushes to stand at the edge of a river. It doesn't look particularly wide, perhaps two dozen feet at most, but it's moving with a decently powerful current. At the very least, it doesn't look like anything in the water wants to kill you quite yet and you're not being pursued by any more carnivorous plants--so this seems as good a place as any to catch a breather.
As the forest's spookiness subsides and the river is in sight, Reijo relaxes in his expediency a bit. He shifts Suny's body into a more comfortable position, from his shoulder into both his arms across his chest.
By the way he talks and brags, one would expect this sailor to make snide comments, or cop a feel. But he does neither. Instead, he remains uncharacteristically silent while keeping his eyes focused on the riverbed ahead.
When they reach it, Reijo gently places Suny down on the ground as they take a short rest. He looks to Ol' Salty and Bellamy, as if to wonder if they can do a thing to help her sickness.
After several moments of catching his breath though, the sailor's expression suddenly shifts to a more familiar one of anger. "Son ov'a..." He looks back to the way they came. "Left them bloody coins there! BAH!!" He twists around and kicks the ground, sending several small stones into the raging river waters.
Turning back around, he gives Suny a nasty expression, "Bloody wouldn't a missed'em if'n it weren't fer ye."
From where she lies, Suny's erudite reply is.
"Nyaahhhh!" :P
Vik leans over to clean the plant matter off of her cutlass on one of the many loose strips of cloth hanging from her outfit before speaking.
"This river sure looks like a nice place to rest, if only for a minute. The river looks clean enough to drink from, I'm gonna fill my water skin back up after I make sure it is clean."
Shaking his head at Suny, he tries to pay attention to other matters. He mumbles something unintelligible as he gives the waters a more careful look when Vik goes to fill her waterskin. He whips out his own waterskin as well.
Nhati watches anxiously to see if any of the others are able to do anything for Suny.
"How long will we wait here? It's probably worth the time to use some magic to fix Vik's gun if we think we can afford it."
Ol' Salty starts repairing Vik's weapon. "Bellamy, do you have any healing spells left like?"
"If it's simple wounds of the flesh, and not a debilitating injury like Suny's, I can patch you up, Salty. Think of it as thanks for repairing my gun here."
The water appears clean enough to drink, though you can't be certain the water itself is actually safe.
This is a jungle and it is Besmara's throne. There's no telling what's lurking down in the river's water. Crocodiles and worse, you'd imagine... but fortunately, you don't see any of those right now. A respite, however brief, is certainly welcome.
That just leaves the matter of crossing the river.
"Thank ye kindly, Ms. Viktorra. If'n it won't be too much hassle, I'd be appreciating it. But I been through worse, don'tcha know. Oh! Those that be drinkin the water like, bring it to me first. I can purify it for ye."
"Nhati, if'n ye need helping that alchemical contraption, I c'n help ye there!" Bellamy said, and if she agrees, spends a few minutes casting Mending on her pistole to help fix it.
Bellamy notices people gathering around Sunny.
"Say, is Miss Sunny feeling poorly? Let me see if I c'n help there!" Bellamy said as he pressed through the crowd.
He presses his flask of whisky to Sunny's lips as he casts stabilize, detect poison, cure light wounds for healed, then casts purify food and drink (DC 13) on a handful of berries he had gathered along the way and gave them to her.
With fresh water, some purified berries, and a few decent-looking fruits pulled from nearby trees, you manage to set up a fairly nice little campsite to take a break at. No beasts approach from jungle or water, and as the sun sits high in the sky, the gentle shade of the riverside foliage and the breeze running down it beside the water are a welcome break.
Unfortunately, if you are to reach the center of Besmara's Throne and meet up with Captain Lanteri on time, you won't be able to stay here too long. Eventually you'll need to get moving through the jungle again...
With help from her friends, Suny feels better after the party's encounter with the leaf critters.
She gets herself up and bathes off some of the jungle grime in the river. Even wading out a little to relax in the rippling waters of the gentle stream.
"Rightie then. Lets be off."
The grumpy sailor jumps up from his relaxed pipe-smoking position and prepares to carry on.
Observing the river, he makes a plan. He hands some rope to the others. "All o'ye best tie this 'ere rope round yer waist, lets one o'ye gets pulled by the current." Tying the end of the 50 ft. rope to his own waist, "I be goin' ferst."
He wields his boarding axe in one hand, in case of beasties, or wooden objects to use to help him climb and navigate the river.
"Here lassie; have a little nip to go!" Cackled Bellamy as he gave Sunny another sip from his flask. Cure Light Wounds to heal (from the wand).
He also gives Ol' Salty a sip from his flask. Cure Light Wounds to heal (from the wand).
And Reijo as well. Cure Light Wounds to heal (from the wand).
Suny gives Bellamy a thankful hug in small repayment for his soothing ways. (^_^)
With every one beginning to paddle out into the waters Suny happily glides about and does the best she can to help her friends get across this tiny patch of water.
*Splishen, splashen.* (^_^)
Reijo starts the river crossing, but even the wounded Suny proves her mastery in the water as she catches up in a few short moments. As they reach the halfway point in the river, however, a rolling bank of fog blossoms on the far bank, obscuring it almost entirely. Only the faintest line where the shore was can still be seen through the mist, all while the current pulls at the swimmers.
"Visitors to the Throne, I see," beckons a voice from somewhere beyond the fog. "A welcome gift for my pets. They haven't tasted heretic in months."
Nhati nods to Tai, asking the parrot familiar to try to figure out where the sound is from.
"There are no heretics here. Only those with the Queen's favor."
Suny stops when she hears the voice, then moves to her friends.
"Okeys, we should be gettin' back ta' river bank. Ye is not goin' ta' be hasin' a good time fightin' here abouts." She tries to whisper over the sound of the river's waters. Pointing out that pretty much every one will/would be at a disadvantage fighting in the water.. depending on what's about to happen.
It is well known among Besmara's faithful that the passage to the Throne proper is littered with prisoners, executed, and exiled heretics. Though it is uncommon for them to survive the dangers of the surrounding jungle and nigh-impossible to escape through the treacherous waters around the island, there are stories of mad heretics surviving even Besmara's wrath...
You see nothing but a flock of birds congregating at the very edge of the fog. They seem to be watching you...
"Oi." Never one to turn down a stiff drink, the sailor feels quite refreshed by his old pal Bellamy's spirits.
...
With the mist and accusation of heresy, Reijo rolls his eyes. He mutters under his breath as Vik talks back, "Jus' lovely, a bloody 'ligous fanatic."
Taking in Besmara's island with a brief scan, he shrugs. "Figures."
He adds to (or perhaps detracts from) Vik's pious statement, "Aye, we do believe alrighty that Besmara saves an' all that rubbish. Ain't no heretics here. Jus' leaves us be, now, an we'll leave ye be. Ye fancy that?"
Tai lands on Nhati's shoulder and speaks briefly to her in Polyglot.
Nhati says quietly to the others, "Tai tells me there's a flock of birds gathering at the edge of the fog, and it seems they're watching us. Any idea what that's all about?"
Suny simply ducks beneath the surface and glides closer to the groups desired destination.
Suny swims closer, but sees nothing more than a flock of birds perching at the edge of the encroaching mists. The fog bank has practically swallowed the entire riverside, making it difficult to see exactly where the water's edge is.
"No--Heretics, the lot of you," replies the voice, with a cacophony of cawing birds echoing behind it. "Servants of an upstart goddess with no right to the seas! You fools keep sending your condemned here to die, but rarely do you come here yourselves. Fear of what you do not understand." The voice pauses, and you'd swear the birds were laughing in unison. "Let this cursed isle decide who is to be truly condemned before the gods!"
Suny paddles back to her friends,
"I dun't see nuffin'." She explains, "Is all misty an' foggy, like." She stands to experimentally test the water's depth. Blinking she asks,
"So... whut's tha' feller in'a fog be sayin', then?"
"Oi, by storm and salt there be no need for blood today! Those who show respect for the sky and waves be friends of ours. I am known as Ol' Salty, a follower of Gozreh. This is Viktorra, a follower of the Pirate Queen. We and our fellow crewmates come to pay our respects to the Gods for safe passage on perilous seas. Please, do not stain the waters and soil with blood. Whom might you be, and be there somethin we can do to see eye-to-eye?"
Suny grins brightly and bounces up and down in the water as she waves and calls out enthusiastically,
"Hey YA there! Hellooo! We is all lookin' fer a place.... is over way yonder." She wavez and points further off into the jungle.
"How is it ye bein'? I yam bein' called 'Suny' in'a speakin' of tha' peoples! We can be right freindlilly!" (^_^)
Reijo bites his tongue, wisely (for a change) waiting to see if diplomacy can work on this new threat before he mouths off (again).
He grips his axe more tightly nonetheless, however, as he continues to wade his way across the river... and out of it ASAP.
"A fellow follower of She Who Guides the Wind and Waves? And yet her, journeying to pay tribute to this Whore Queen of an Usurper, who has no right to the vast oceans of this world!" Again the birds seem to laugh at this sentiment, an eerie display.
"To see eye to eye, you must take to the winds as the Sky Father does--embrace the storm and bring His wrath upon those who dare to challenge it! I am Treyin, Ol' Salty, and perhaps you may understand. I wish nothing more than the seas to belong to the Seas, and the winds to belong to the Winds--and yet I am labelled a heretic, a madman, and traitor. Condemned to an isle, where I sit and bide. If you truly wish to avoid blood in these waters, then you must pay homage to the true God of the Wind and Waves... and sink the Usurper Queen's ships lower than the greatest depths."
Suny frowns, tilts her head and looks to her friends obviously puzzled.
"I... dun't in'erstand...." She admits after Treyin's response.
"Is tha' feller syain' he does look ta' Besmara? Or is he sayin' he be lookin' ta' another spirit thingy, like?" She scratches her blond mop in consternation.
"Don'tchye werry yer blonde mop about it," Reijo consoles Suny in a loud whisper as he continues bringing the crew to the other side of the river. "'Ligious fanatics ne'r be makin' much bloody sense ta anyone with a full wind a blowin' in their sails. Let Ol'Geezer handle 'em, he seems smart 'bout 'ligious hullabaloo an' all."
Suny nods to Reijo as she wades along after him,
"Aye.. well.. Long as he in't talkin' about that other Pirate. Tha' one they say even Besmara dun't be trustin'...." Suny opines as they head towards their destination again.
Nhati wonders if she knows anything about the mainstream doctrine of the church of Gozreh, and whether or not this person is within the mainstream, or far enough out that it would be reasonable to call him heretical.
"Treyin, be it known that I do not wish to cross another Gozran. I am sorry you have been exiled, but I see what be your problem. Ye see, Gozreh got no quarrel with the Pirate Queen. She does not claim ownership of the Sea, but sails along It, fights above It, and dies beneath It. She represents the people who tempt fate upon the Sea, but these sailors be a respectful bunch, wary of our God. It is not right fer us to seek war upon them. So I ask of ye to let us through without bloodshed, and if there be a way fer me to help relieve ye of yer exile, I'd be proud to do it."
"A fair point," the voice admits. Treyin pauses, then starts again with a lecturer's tone. Patient, educating, but with an unmistakable touch of arrogance at looking down on the ignorant. "But I feel you misunderstand. It is not the sailors I wage war upon--no, I was once no different from them. It is the Usurper Queen of the Seas that must go. Sailors fear her as much as they fear Gozreh herself! Praising her name in hopes of safe passage across waterways she has no right to! Yet, I cannot wage war upon a Goddess herself. I do what I do to prove her crimes and build glory to She Who Guides the Wind and Waves. I wish only others could see it so. You seem the good sort, Old Salty, so I must warn you that there can be no peace between myself and the Usurper Queen's sea dogs. I urge you not to side with them, and to convince your friends who is the true Mistress of the Waves"
Suny seems to perk up at the voice's comments.
"Ah! You be meanin' tha' evil one, right? Tha' one who even Besmara be a feared of, right?" She calls out questioningly as she wades closer.
Nhati calls out. "You are mistaken. Most of the Gozrans do not bear any particular ill-will towards Besmara. Listen to Ol'Salty here -- he can help bring you into a deeper understanding of the faith of Gozreh. Sailors may fear the Pirate Queen, yes, but the fear of others attacking you on the waves is nothing to the waves themselves, for they can strike at any time, independent of the machinations of humans and elves and tengus, more powerful that the greatest pirate fleet. Allow us to continue, and join us. Take the opportunity to learn from the old shaman we bring with us."
The voice sighs, ignoring Suny's ignorance of the religious debate and bemoaning Nhati's argument. The birds echoes his sentiment, wings flapping as the flock starts to take flight and disperse back into the jungle. "I have learned, and I have made my choice. A man without conviction in his beliefs is no man, and if my beliefs brand me a heretic than here I stand a heretic, saying it is you that are true heretics. There is nothing more to be said. I truly do wish you the best of luck against my pets, if only so you survive to see the truths I see."
With a cacophony of wings, a great crow appears above the edge of the fog bank, turning on the wind and disappearing into the distant mists and choking jungle as quickly as it appeared. As though following the beast, the mist recedes back down to the eerie, ground-hugging state you've grown accustomed to. The flock of birds, too, vanishes with the crow--back into the jungle, or back into whatever realm they came from. The echoes of their calls and the beats of their wings resound through the jungle, though perhaps those are just other colorful birds enjoying their undisturbed, verdant home.
You can now see the other riverbank perfectly clear, though the message received is also fairly clear--Treyin is as rooted in his beliefs as a person can be. And that side of the river is, apparently, 'his.' And his pets'.
Bellamy stopped to light his pipe.
"Did we win girl?" He asked innocently, grinning at all the highfalutin' talk. Did none of them know the perfection of Desna?
Suny shrugs in response to Bellamy,
"I dun't know. I in't a feller an' I in't a 'person'." She muses,
"I is a Elf...." She shrugs and continues to wade to the other bank,
"Geez... peoples is rilly slow in'a water, an all...."
"So be it, ignorant fool. You spew heresies even as you accuse of being heretics."
Vik draws her pistol as she moves closer to their side of the river, beginning to take aim at one of the...'pets'.
Nhati sighs. "I follow Cayden Cailean, but that doesn't mean I feel the need to draw a line in the sand and demand that anybody who doesn't drink beer gets to cross it. People take their particular interpretations way too seriously! We're probably going to have to fight him, just because he can't agree to disagree on a point of philosophy."
"So, no, we didn't win. Everybody loses."