Kyson looks around.
"So, where was Silvio going?" Silvio says and looks around. "A there! Follow Silvio to prosperity"
You continue along the path until nightfall, setting up your usual precautions. The night, for the first time, though, passes uneventfully.
The trail continues on all day, until you arrive at a split in the trail, a narrow mountain pass leading inward. Urol looks at the path and marks it on his map, but after a moment continues along the coastal way.
"Hey, wait! Where in the name of Besmara's tit are you going, you little twerp?" Amella snaps. "This could get us away from the bloody gargoyles before they succeed in actually killing us?!"
Urol seems stunned by her sudden outburst. "But, but, but, the coastal path should lead us right to Tanaroa. The gargoyles haven't really hurt anyone."
"Yet!" Amella shouts. "This is all some walk in the flaming park to you, isn't it? I know what you're up, you rotting little gnome. Think no one else matters, do you?!"
* * *Retro* * *
Kyson awakes early, as he usually does, and looks over to Khaz's droopy and tired body to ensure that his cure has held. If it has, he will pray to the morning sun for wisdom and healing to aid his friends.
When he is finished with that (and maybe even Khaz has joined him), he will tend to Khaz's con damage.
"That crown makes you look noble..." Kyson says, making small talk and trying to show some bedside manners as he works. "...help that and that most of the hideousness is gone from your face."
Lesser Restoration (Constitution)
CL check vs. DC 20
Lesser Restoration (Constitution)
CL check vs. DC 20
Lesser Restoration (Charisma)
CL check vs. DC 20
"Oh, it's a native village. It's the first one she should get to of the settlements around the colony. From there, we should be awfully close to Farshore."
***Retro***
Khazmia tries to hold still as Kyson works, breathing a sigh of relief as he casts the last spell. "Thank you, Kyson. You've been a true friend and a most diligent servant of Our Lady." She smiles serenely, her face feeling more itself than ever. "I don't know what we'd do without you."
With only a slight light headed wobble, she is soon ready to go, nearly as good as new.
"Inland? I don't think it would be. We could get lost much more easily than just sticking along the coast."
"I'm for the way that will get us quickly to the village. Let's go thataway," Kyson opines. "I want a nice bed. And a bacon sundae. Urol, will they sundaes in the village?"
"Yeah. Let's stay within sight of the bloody sea - at least we can see things coming. Take it easy, skipper"
Sekathral tries to talk down Amella.
"This was never going to be a ***king nun's tea-party at the best of times. The sooner we're back somewhere with roofs and indoor privies the better."
"Agreed. I can't imagine what might be lurking in land. At least we know about the gargoyles already."
"Your hesitation to take the coastal road befuddles Silvio, Lady Amella. Did you not just see Silvio end the gargoyle threat by defeating the demon king? Lady Khazmia wears the proof of this great feat as we speak!"
"Maybe, but sometimes luck holds out only so flaming long. That last one almost bloody pushed my flaming elf off the cliff straight into Besmara's arms. But, look, I'll follow if you want." She harrumphs and glares at the gnome.
Following Urol's lead, you continue south, but after about 3 miles, the trail suddenly comes to end end. It's not clear if the ledge has eroded away or whoever built the trail simply never completed its construction, but it seems likely you'll need to backtrack.
With much grumbling from the group -- especially Amella and Avner -- you retrace your steps and turn onto the path into the center of the island. Ten miles pass as you make your way through twisting canyons of rock, though there are plenty of places to stop and rest along the path, and both food and water seem more plentiful than they were along the cliffs -- the latter fact seeming to cheer Urol, who was upset about the trail's end.
When the mountain pass finally comes to an end, you find yourselves on the edge of a great and dark fog-shrouded jungle. A lake glitters far off in the distance, barely visible through the gloom. The path leads right into the jungle, where you see leaves dripping with condensation and the canopy above sings with strange bird calls. The ground is wet and muddy, verging on swampland in places.
Kyson looks at the jungle with his hands balled into fists and upon his hips, a strange, confuzzled look on his face.
"Urol, is there a way around this? Or over it? Or something? This looks scary," Kyson bemoans.
"Do we want to rest the remainder of the day and start fresh on the jungle tomorrow? With the fresh sunlight, we should get in pretty far tomorrow and stay out here tonight."
"Can you fly up to see over it? or around, Kyson?" Khazmia asks, eying the jungle with her own fair share of trepidation.
Sekathral, slightly puzzled himself due to being referred to as 'my elf',
Probably means nothing. Unless... No... ***k me, I don't know
tightens his lips and looks meaningfully at Zstelian.
"Mate, can you send your bird up? Might attract attention if a cleric of Sarenrae suddenly pops up over the canopy and starts warbling about damsels. Failing that, I'll climb up a sodding tree."
Kayle flies out but quickly returns, burrowing her head into her wing as she lands on Zstelian's arm.
He can eventually coax her into telling him that while she didn't see anything, the jungle doesn't feel right.
Kyson shrugs at the bird's report.
"Yeah, probably because the light of Sarenrae can't reach here. Well, we gotta get moving...not sure whatever is in here will be worse than that heucuva or them uglifying mummies we faced. I'm sure we'll be fine," Kyson shrugs.
Kyson looks ready to follow Silvio.
Khazmia sighs and rearranges her scarf over her face before heading into the jungle with the others.
Sekathral also lopes forward, slashing at the undergrowth with one of his larger daggers and keeping an eye on Amella.
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"Maybe, but sometimes luck holds out only so flaming long. That last one almost bloody pushed my flaming elf off the cliff straight into Besmara's arms. But, look, I'll follow if you want." She harrumphs and glares at the gnome.
Silvio looks at the captain with a befuddled look before bursting into a wide smile followed by a joyous laugh. "It is easy for the untrained eye to mistake Silvio's numerous feats of unmatched heroics relying on luck, but astute observers will know otherwise. It is only natural to think that such a composition of razorsharp skill, near unlimited talent and stunning good looks is impossible to achieve, but Silvio's existance has proven such naysayers wrong."
Silvio studies the jungle through his spyglass. "This is just another obstacle in the path of Silvio's reunion with the lovely lady Liamae. It will be crossed and bested, like the others."
You set off into the creepy jungle, the feeling of something wrong like an oil on your skin. Following game trails, you find plants in the swampy jungle are deformed, off-color or bloated with twitching growths, seemingly of great concern to Urol.
The fog seems ever-present, limiting your vision to just 60 feet. Snakes slither away from you in the damp, seemingly as happy to avoid you as you are to avoid them.
"So, what can you tell Silvio about this jungle?" he asks Urol.
I can tell you that I don't like it. It's wet. And too green. And no damsels, either, Kyson replies to Silvio's question, still trudging along.
"Is everyone sure of which way we are going?"
"Stay close. It'll be easy to get lost in this."
[dice=Survival]1d20+13
"I'm not even sure which way is which. Zstelian is right; keep close, or we'll be lost in no time." Khazmia refreshes her breeze spell, but all it really seems to do is stir the moisture in the air rather than alleviate any of it.
Urol shakes his head at Silvio's question. "None of this is right," the gnome says, looking around at the deformed plants. "Something's very wrong."
Despite the oddness, Zstelian seems to have you heading in the right direction as the sun starts to set.
Right bloody ray of sunshine, isn't he?
Sekathral scowls at the back of Urol's head and trudges onwards, keeping an eye out for flayleaf bushes.
"I'm nearly out, but does anyone mind if I spark up? Might keep the ****ing mosquitoes off for a few minutes..."
Urol shakes his head at Silvio's question. "None of this is right," the gnome says, looking around at the deformed plants. "Something's very wrong."
Despite the oddness, Zstelian seems to have you heading in the right direction as the sun starts to set.
"Then it is fortunate that Silvio accompanies you, for Silvio is proficient in righting wrongs", the chelaxian proclaims proudly.
Kyson offers Seka a flaming hand for which to light his leaf, happy to oblige.
"Yet another gift from Sarenrae," Kyson says, a weak attempt at conversion. Kyson will release his fire hand when Seka's blowing smoke.
Kyson nods at Silvio's pronouncement, wondering how much work Kyson will have to do to actually fix things.
Kyson itches an insect bite on his arm and keeps walking until someone finds a spot to camp.
You continue on and after several hours you come upon some old ruins in a relatively dry clearing. Made up of crumbling, moss-covered walls, they appear ancient but don't seem to match the Olmans' architectural style. Built out of simple stone blocks, the walls bear no designs or patterns. Small piles of rubble dot the ruins, and an empty fire pit sits in the center.
Off in the northwest corner of the ruinrs stands a crude wooden frame in the shape of an X. Bound upside-down to the fram is the corpse of a man, his legs high in the air. Even from afar, it's easy to tell that the gaping wound in the center of his chest killed the man.
Kyson looks around, trying to find a good place to camp for the night.
Perception
"Might as well camp here someplace...it looks nice and safe, right?" Kyson asks.
Given time, he will cast Air Walk and approach the hanging man, trying to figure what killed him.
Heal check
Kyson offers Seka a flaming hand for which to light his leaf, happy to oblige.
"Yet another gift from Sarenrae," Kyson says, a weak attempt at conversion. Kyson will release his fire hand when Seka's blowing smoke.
"Nice" says Sekathral, approvingly. "Have a puff. Or don't. Please yourself, mate"
"And a warm ****ing welcome to you too", he says to the corpse. "Some bastard's trying to tell us something, and I'll pay him back in his own frigging coin if I ever see the ****. Right. I'm having a kip, since it don't take me as long as it does you lazy buggers, then it's watch time. Who'm I on with tonight?"
Khazmia wrinkles her nose at the corpse, then gets out her carefully hoarded cologne and douses him liberally. Still, she makes out her bedroll on the far side of the clearing. "I'll meet you in the middle, Sekathral. I just hope I can sleep with that thing hanging around."
As Kyson approaches the corpse, it suddenly begins to speak in broken Common.
"Welcome to my home, travelers. You come a long way only to stay here forever. At least you live. That is good for now. My home is your home, now and forever."
Zstelian, you see strange six-toed tracks around the corpse, but nothing leading to or from the area beyond your own footprints.
Khazmia jumps back, snarling before she catches herself. "Oh, we won't be staying that long. Just long enough to help you rest. 'forever'."
Know (Religion)
Kyson recoils from the talking hanged guy; a stinkface revealing his revulsion.
"What he heck is wrong with you? Why would hang up here scaring people?" Kyson retorts, trying to figure out what is going on here.