Suny 'Eeps' and simply drops beneath the waters.
Though Vik draws her pistol and levels it at the open bank on the far side of the river, Treyin utters not another word. With the mists receding and the flock of birds dispersed, there is nothing left to shoot at but the jungle itself.
Whatever pets he spoke of are either invisible or lurking deeper in the jungle.
Nhati says, "Let us continue, but be on our guard."
She turns to her Tai and says to the parrot in polyglot, "Fly overhead and keep an eye on things, but if you see aggressive flying birds, fly away. Don't risk yourself."
Tai will fly overhead and use the empathic bond with Nhati to send her nervous feelings if there's something scary. He'll take 10 on Perception for a result of 22.
Smirking as Vik draws her pistol, Reijo's brief humor shifts to concern as he looks at the sudden release of fog and the disappearance of the heretical heretic.
"Great... bloody great," he dourly remarks as he draws his own pistol and his axe on the other shore. Out of the water, he awaits the rest of the party to make it while suspiciously glaring all about the jungle with pistol cocked and loaded.
"He may be a heretic like, but conviction's be something I can respect. Thanks Vik and Nhati for yer help."
While Suny is the first to make the far bank.. she is the last to leave the rippling waters of the river. With one last seeming longing look back she shrugs, flicks some water from her hair and skips off after every one else. (^_^)
Reijo stands at the far shore, his eyes staring into the jungle as he double checks the powder in his pistol. Though he stands on the same bank where Treyin once stood, he sees no signs of the man's presence.
Nor does the jungle over here seem any different than that you had just left. What made this side of the river home to him and 'his pets' was anyone's guess.
The only thing left to do was slog on through the jungle. Besmara's Throne wasn't that big, and the seat of Besmara's clergy should still be due west.
Ol' Salty slowly crosses the water and reaches the other side. "Aye, be careful like. I bet ye he still got all his magic, and we be in his territory. Let's get started."
"Aye," is all Reijo gets out in response to the old man. He continues to look around with furrowed, paranoid brows. Waiting, just waiting for the slightest indication of a strange bird, a strange mist, or a strange heretic as they carry on down the path westward.
Puffing contentedly on his pipe as he strolled along, Bellamy listened carefully to his surroundings for threats.
Nhati shrugs, and begins to slog on through the jungle with the others -- Tai flying overhead on recon. (See previous post.)
"Keep your eyes peeled, everyone. This seems suspicious..."
*Skippy, skippy, skippy, skip*
(^_^)
The hours wear on as you trudge deeper into the jungle on Treyin's 'side' of the river. Here the jungle seems almost more primal, rejecting your every movement in an attempt to turn you back. The strange fog grows thicker, veiling even your feet below the misty layer. Sound itself seems distant--the birds and insects and wind are all still there, but somehow different.
As noon passes and night looms ahead, the group remains on edge. Since encountering Treyin at the river, the strange man hadn't made so much as a peep. If you didn't know better, you'd say there was nothing any more dangerous here than before.
Finally, after what feels an eternity of blindly stumbling through the jungle, you break through onto a proper game trail. It runs north and south--not the westward direction you need--but it would be significantly easier to follow than carving a new path. Likewise, with night approaching far more quickly than you'd care for, it might be wise to start considering your options for camping.
And there's the matter of when--if--Treyin's pets would make their move.
Nhati says, "I suggest we find a secure location and set up a secure camp. Treyin has told us that we are in hostile territory; we need to plan accordngly. It may slow us down, but pressing on and coming across something that expends more of our resources and weakens us before camping will only make us softer targets for anything Treyin may send against us during the night."
Suny bounces on her toes and gives Nhati a cheery salute,
"OKEYS!" She exclaims before scampering up the nearest tree. (^_^)
"A wise choice, Nhati. We should also have a night watch ready like."
Reijo is forced to agree. But the paranoid sailor is anything but relaxed about the decision, "I be takin' ferst watch."
For the first half of the night, the wary man keeps his eyes peeled. He smokes his billiard pipe while making rounds around the camp, squinting into the dark jungle all around, but not forgetting the night sky above or even the ground as well. Every little twig snap, bird call, or other jungle sound in the night comes into full focus for the extremely vigilant night watchman...
Reijo stands first watch as the group settles down for a bit of shut eye. The jungle seems an entirely different beast at night, with stark darkness mere feet into the thick foliage. The flickering light of the campfire seems a weak ward against the dangers beyond.
Fortunately, Reijo's eyes are as paranoid as the sailor himself. Even as a light rain starts to fall, collecting the canopy and falling down through the leaves like miniature waterfalls. What could have been a restful slumber instead turns to a sort of soggy, muddy mess.
As the night wears on and watches change, the rain slowly builds to a consistent, if warm, rainfall. Keeping the fire going Flows of mud and rainwater drain along quasi-riverbeds, draining the overwhelming amount of water down into the rivers beyond.
Worse, the going will be even slower as you slog through the mud... and with the rain coming down, your visibility is going to be hampered. And even with your powder horns, keeping the pistols dry is going to be a challenge.
For a heretic of Gozreh, Treyin certainly seems to have his blessing. At least the sun rises...
The next morning, Nhati spends some quality time with her spellbooks refreshing the arcane formulae in her mind.
Her familiar Tai the parrot, meanwhile, sits on a nearby tree branch and sings the song of his people: "AWK!"
Once she's ready, she stands up, looking miserable in the rain and mud. "Well. Let's go onward. Time passes, and we have a ship to catch on the way back."
"Too true, Nhati. We need to keep moving if we want to make it in time."
The grumpy sailor rises with his usual lack of glee. Without much of a sound sleep, he lazily took his time getting up. At last, when he does, he begins checking his gear and preparing to carry on. Keeping his powder horn dry by placing it within his pack, and his pistol by placing it within his coat, Reijo agrees without cheer.
"Aye. Up an' at 'em, old man." Bellamy feels Reijo's boot prod him in the buttocks. "Ye as well, oth'r old man," Ol' Salty feels a similar prod in his upper arm.
To Suny, "Ain't no time fer catchin' raindrops wit yer tongue. Chop chop!" He smacks his hands together.
"I'm up. I'm up!" Groused Bellamy as he was roused from a perfectly good dream.
"What did you do ta me Reijo boy? I'm sore head ta foot!" He complained as he stood up and staggered about trying to flex his arms and legs back into life.
As people stir and muster on the coming morn Reijo's hand clapping has Suny blinking and leaning over the branches she's pulled together for the previous night's rest as she looks down at every one getting ready to head off.
"Oh! Aye!" She exclaims and scampers down the side of the tree she had been sleeping in the branches of. (^_^)
She bounces happily on her toes. "SO! Which way is we goin'?" She asks brightly and looks at the surrounding jungle to see where the trail is.
"I believe it's....that way." Vik says, pointing whichever way it is.
Suny skips and bounces (And twists, turns, ducks, dodges and other wise avoids the entangling foliage) along behind Viktorra. (^_^)
Nahti trusts Viktorra to know the way....
Reijo grunts a short laugh at Bellamy. "Me only kicked ye in yer arse. The rest pro'ly be on account o'ye bein' real old-like."
Paranoid Reijo trusts no one. He scans around himself, but ultimately concludes the same as Vik. He merely nods with a grunt to Vik's initiative. With the front covered, he opts to keep up the rear in case of, you know... surprises from behind.
Viktorra, guided as much by her goddess as she is by her resistance to the heretic Treyin in the group's way, has no trouble picking out the path to follow. It is a rough path, made only rougher by the constant rainfall and muddied terrain, but the going is going, at least. You did have a boat to catch!
Two hours after the journey began, however, you come across a strange clearing. Several holes pierce the ground here, and rainwater flows into them like the gutters of a city. It is difficult to tell how far down the burrow-like holes go, but whatever they are did a number of the vegetation around them. Only the hardiest grass grows in the clearing, while thick briars have encircled the rest of the grove, as though walling it off from the rest of the jungle. You could go around, but you'd need to chop through the briar patches (or find another way around further around those), and that will slow you down.
Suny peers at the growth.
"We could always climb?" The tanned Elf suggests as she looks up at the surrounding trees.
"Should we jes hack our way through? They's jest brambles, right?" Asked Bellamy, hand on his cutlass.
Suny leans a little closer too the brambles.
"Well..... they is all pointy an' spikey, like." She again looks to the trees.
"Maybe I can be climbin' one an' gettin' a better look-see about whut's inside, hey?"
"Bah! Let's me see what be beyond them briars."
Reijo decides to climb a nearby tree at the edge of the clearing, and have a look over the briar wall if possible...
Nhati says, "Something seems fishy about this clearing...."
She will cast Detect Magic and scan it, trying to find any magical auras. Take 10 on Knoweldge (Arcana) for a result of 21, which should identify the school of magic for spells up to level 6.
She'll also think if she recognizes this as a part of any arcane, religious, or fey rituals: take 10 on various Knowledge skills for a result of 21 (Arcane) or 17 (Nature, Religion).
Suny frowns, "I dun't think there be any fish-es about...." Before shrugging and also scampering up the nearest tree to have a look at the thing in front of them.
"Here!" She calls down, "This in't tha'place ye be lookin'fer, be it Vik?" She asks, though by the tone of her voice Suny doesn't really think Viktorra's fancy place would be like this.
You recognize the holes as something similar to a burrow... but generally more for a root than an animal. Perhaps a root-like animal or another carnivorous plant was nesting here... but it looks like they're gone now.
From the trees beside the clearing and the briar thickets, Suny and Reijo see... a whole lot of nothing. Other than rain falling and some very wet leaves and dirt, there doesn't appear to be anything particularly dangerous or interesting in the clearing, the briars, or beyond. The holes don't go very deep, having collapsed on themselves after more than a foot in each.
It simply looks like a part of the jungle got up and left... leaving a big hole in the foliage (and the holes in the ground).
Suny peers at the place for a few moments before shrugging and climbing down. Brushing her hands absently she looks to Viktorra,
"Okeys, where this place ye goin' too be agin?" She peers about looking for a way past the boring stuff..
Nhati tells the others, "From these holes, it looks like something was burrowing here. Maybe animals, but they look more like holes that would be left by roots. There are some plants that are able to nest in a place and then move about; it might be something like that. We should proceed with caution. Movable hostile plants in the middle of a jungle are very hard to spot. If we're in the middle of the clearing, we're very easy to spot. I recommend taking the long way around."
"Bloody creepy," Reijo remarks gruffly on the clearing as he returns to ground level. He nods to Nhati, "Aye. Best be with the normal trees than... vuln'r'ble out thar." He points into the strange clearing.
"It's supposed to be some sort of shrine or temple, I believe...this is certainly not it."
This is almost undoubtedly not the temple you seek. Going around through the briars on either side of the clearing will not be easy, and rerouting further around the clearing will take a good bit of time. The rain kept coming down as you looked on, considering the options...
Bellamy turned his eyepatched face up to the rain, letting the warm water sluice over him for a moment. Then he turned to Viktorra and grinned.
"Wall then girly, if'n this ain't the right spot, where IS the right one?"
Suny begins to size up the trees still left around this strange clearing, measuring distances off quietly, pulling rope from her back.
"We can be goin' over tha' problem..." She points out, indicating the path up into the trees and over the briars and such.
Nhati's familiar, the parrot Tai, says in Polyglot, "Why are you making such a big deal about it? Just fly around it!"
Nhati throws her familiar a dirty look. "I need to study more before I know that spell."
Looking back at Suny, she says, "But, sure, if we want to climb through the trees, I have a spell that makes me pretty good at that. Not terribly fast, but it makes me a reliable climber, sort of like a monkey."
Suny nods and grins, "Aye! That'll be helpin' LOTS!" She exclaims enthusiastically even as she begins to work out rope lengths and sizing up the first tree.
"Yuppers. We go up that tree there...an' over ta' that tree there an' then that one an' that one...."