"Good.. job, Lorenz" Makoa says as he calms down.
"Douena, hurry."
Douena takes a quick look through the remains of the skeleton and the fungus, but is unable to find anything of note or value. Meanwhile, Lorenz gets a rope secured at the top of the bridge and starts down the bridge. At the bottom, he's able to secure it to a strong stalk of fungus. Some of the smaller fungi on the ground is starting to wither, but the larger stalks are holding up for the time being.
The others gradually make their ways down the bridge, Douena last. By that time, the fungus bridge is noticeably weakening.
Douena trips lightly down the bridge, a look of discontent on her face despite the evidence of wilting fungus all around them. "No treasure," she sighs. "And I don't feel good. And my hand hurts. It's odd," she goes on. "Those big purple fungus things usually have to move around to find food. I guess the pygmies were killing things and bringing them there for it to eat."
Urza waits a bit for Douena, keeping an eye on the fungal bridge while she looks for loot. Once she is satisfied that there's nothing to be had, he unties the rope and hands the end to her before going down the whithering bridge.
"Is anyone hurt?" Makoa asks the group. "We need to at least bandage any wounds before we go anywhere."
Douena and Urza make it safely to the shore with the rope. About 15 seconds after that, the fungus bridge loses its grip on the pillar and drops into the bay. As you watch, fungi all over the pillar begin to fall away into the water, revealing the stone beneath.
"I need some healing, yea. But I don't know if you can cure old age."
"It's the poison on that thing's tentacles," Douena grumbles. "There's nothing I can do about that; maybe Jask can."
Groaning slightly as his joints feel uncommonly stiff, Mahjik points to the way back. "Wise man seeks time to rest when his bones are weary. And mine are. If we make good time - we'll get across both islands to the main one before tide comes in again. That would be nice..." His thoughts trail off a bit.
You set out again, trudging through the mud and the dying fungus. All around, the smaller fungi are withering away. The larger fungi are less affected, but you start to notice signs of withering along their edges. By the time you reach the southern edge of this island, it's clear that the fungus jungle is dying. You estimate that it will probably take a day or two for all the fungus to die off.
The water level between the two islands has risen a little by the time your reach it, but there's still lots of time before the tide comes fully in. You are able to wade across to the southern island without any difficulty. There you notice that fungus that was growing here has already completely withered away and died.
By the time you reach the south end of this island, the water level has risen some more, but it's still possible for you to get across without much difficulty. It's a bit deep for Douena, but placing her on Soulwind easily solves that problem.
The sun has fully set by this point, as you set out along the beach towards Pezock's giant crab.
You reach the crab and your camp just under two hours later.
Mahjik wastes no time making himself comfortable near Jask when they arrive back at camp. "Wise man does not hunt for the fountain of youth. But I am giving it some serious thought right now. I feel like I've aged 50 years. I'm not hurt - but everything hurts. Some giant mushroom thing got me. But we got it back good; it looks like all the fungus is dying."
"It was poison, Jask," Douena elaborates, plopping down on the other side of him. "A purple fungus that likes to eat people ... which I guess is only fair since people like to eat mushrooms. But it got me, too. I'm all tired and sick-feeling," she complains. "How are you?" she adds, seeming suddenly to remember Jask's own illness. "Are you feeling any better?"
Jask looks over Mahjik and Douena, examining in particular the areas where the mushroom's tentacles hit them. A look of concern crosses his face, but then he smiles. "These will heal slowly over a few days," he says. "You might want to each use one of the potions of lesser restoration. They will not heal you completely, but they will get a start on it, making your total recovery time less."
He sits back and smiles. "As for me, I am feeling okay. I am not over it yet, as you can see by the rashes. However, I am confident I can beat this."
"I think I shall have some of that bottled fountain of youth you suggest. And then a good night's sleep..."
Douena looks at the potion bottle, then shakes her head. "If it all comes down to how hard I can hit something, we're all in trouble. I'd rather save it for someone who really needs it. If Makoa or Lorenz got poisoned and we didn't have a potion for them because I drank it ... well, that would be silly." "Now, let's look at that rash of yours." She looks at the rash on Jask's skin for a few moments, then starts to giggle. "Jask, if you connect these dots, this looks like a flappybite. Look!" She begins to trace shapes on his arm.
Jask chuckles as Douena traces the dots. "So it does!" he says.
He looks to the others. "I'm glad the fungus has been dealt with. I've been talking to Pezock and trying to learn as much as I can about this island and the natives here. Unfortunately, that's not a lot as he doesn't really seem to know a lot. His mind has become unhinged in his time here as well.
"The southern portion of the island is where the cannibals do most of their roaming. Their village is at the southwest tip of the island. Presumably, the trails they have through the jungle lead to the village eventually. The trails will allow for faster movement, but according to Pezock, the cannibals also guard and trap the trails extensively, so we may need to think carefully about how to approach the village.
"As you've already discovered, the cannibals worship that big flying lizard and bring it sacrifices. It has its lair on the mountain to the southeast.
"Finally, he knows of one other inhabitant on the island: a woman who lives in a tree to the southwest, but north of the cannibal village. He says he doesn't know much about her, but she's not one of the cannibals. He's fairly certain the cannibals don't know she's there. Otherwise he believes they would have eaten her by now. It occurred to me that she might be a possible ally."
Douena laughs in delight. "A bird in a crab and a woman in a tree! People have such interesting houses around here! If I ever go back to Whistledown, I'm going to take a crabshell with me and live in a crab, like Pezock. Unless I find something even more interesting to take back with me! Oh!" A thought occurs to her. "I could put my crabshell in a tree and live in a crab in a tree! I'll bet no one's done that before."
"Don't you think you could plant a tree in a crabhouse and when it is grown big enough you can live in both."
"Don't you think you could plant a tree in a crabhouse and when it is grown big enough you can live in both."
"Like an upstairs?" Douena asks, considering the possibilities seriously. "There'd have to be a hole in the top of the crabshell, which might let in the rain ... but if I built a big enough roof on the treehouse, it could shelter the crab underneath as well." She turns back to Jask. "Pezock thought the cannibals didn't bother him because of the scarecrab and because maybe they don't like to eat birds. Why have the cannibals left the tree-lady alone? Can they not climb trees? I'm not very good at climbing."
Mahjik nods towards one of the palm trees, "What if she really lives inside a tree? Like that one over there? No house to be seen at all."
"She's probably a potent mage or something. I bet she uses illusions to fool the cannibals. In any case, I think Jask is right, she could be a good ally for us. And since we have to go by her to get to the lighthouse anyway, we might as well pay her a visit."
"Or maybe a dryad if she actually lives inside the tree," Gelik suggests, striding over to the group. "Or perhaps she's just one of those tree-loving elves. Perhaps she's carved a home out of the trunk. Nonetheless, allies would definitely be a good idea."
"Do not mock the elves for loving trees, Gelik." Makoa says quietly. "Not around me."
"Qusti wytu em, Keiyanna?" He mutters as he turns away. Who would have thought Makoa could speak Elven so eloquently around his fangs?
"Who's Keiyanna?" Douena pipes up inquisitively.
Mahjik - looking disheveled and strained, but still grinning - mimes the walk and talk of a bent old man as he approaches Sasha, "Oh hi there young lass. Oh, my aching bones. Youth! Hah! It is wasted on the young..."
Makoa blinks in surprise, unsure he had heard Douena right, then turns to look at the gnome.
"You know elven? You never said.." He sighs. "Secret's out I guess. Keiyanna was an elven guide who was also my third and last mother."
"I know elven," Douena answers, "and dwarven, too. All kinds of elves and half-elves and dwarves came to my brother-in-law's inn, and they all liked to talk in their own language to keep their 'secrets.'" She smiles in satisfaction. "Didn't take me long to pick up most of them." Makoa's words suddenly register with her, and she frowns in consternation. "Your third mother? I know people back home didn't like to talk about how half-orcs got born, but.... How many fathers did you have?"
Mahjik - looking disheveled and strained, but still grinning - mimes the walk and talk of a bent old man as he approaches Sasha, "Oh hi there young lass. Oh, my aching bones. Youth! Hah! It is wasted on the young..."
Sasha gives Mahjik a bemused look. "Wise man says that youth...um...should be...um...enjoyed...or...something like that." She shrugs and laughs. "No idea where I was going with that really."
Makoa blinks in surprise, unsure he had heard Douena right, then turns to look at the gnome.
"You know elven? You never said.." He sighs. "Secret's out I guess. Keiyanna was an elven guide who was also my third and last mother."
Urza puts a light hand on Makoa's shoulder. [b]"You must be something really special, Douena. Makoa doesn't much like to talk of his past. Although I think what he has come through is incredible."[b]
"Thank you, Urza."
"To date, I've had but one father. I don't know him or my first mother, and I think they are dead. You already know about my second mother." He gets a far away look in his eyes as he remembers that life. "Keiyanna was an elven guide who heard the 'legend' that had formed around the pack and I, and she decided to investigate. She found us after a large kill, full and lethargic, and stole me away to her little cabin. She taught me how to talk after I got used to her, and how to fight with weapons and hunt better."
"She even made my shield for me before I left."
"Heh! You youngins, always floppin about... - it would be funny, if it didn't feel this bad. The potion made a big difference, but I'm still quite tender."
Douena seems to think about replying to Makoa, then notices the rapidly increasing darkness around them. "Oops! Time to talk to Desna," she realizes and hurries down near the waves.
As it's already quite late, you eat a quick meal of fish that Jask has prepared while Gelik reads the third section of the Abendego Cantos.
He looks tired throughout the reading though, so while it's not a bad performance, it's nowhere near as engaging as last night's. It's still a good text though and that manages to show through.
"Do you really think Keiyanna can see you?" she asks the half-orc. "Your wolves were watching, you know. Maybe your first mother and father are watching over you, too."
While Douena spends her time communing with Desna, Makoa finds a place to look at(or for) the moon and sits down to rest and unconsciously mutter under his breath.
"If they are, they have never shown it."
He is quiet for a long time.
"I do not think she is watching me now. I used to think she could see everything because she always seemed to know I was doing or about to do. I used to ask her if she could she, and I always jumped when she answered from the different direction. We weren't the same race, but that didn't bother her at all. It's never bothered me before for that matter."
Mahjik does not take a watch, trying sleeping through to get more rest. Jask cares for the little Vudrani man, but twice over Mahjik wakes up from Jask's wracking cough. "Wise man would worry - you sound like a man on the verge of collapse. Maybe you should lie down too." After a while Mahjik adds. "I'm worried, I can feel my body is suffering more than it should. Maybe there's some after effect from the Fungusking."
Lorenz spends the evening quietly listening to the others, his face evoking his reactions as easily as it always does. Interest in the idea of a woman who lives in a tree, surprise at Makoa's intense reaction to Gelik's casual comment and astonishment at a little of the half-orc's history.
He enjoys the Cantos as much as he ever did, and even if Gelik wasn't quite up to his usual performance, he claps as agreeably as ever.
Before the watches start he approaches Aerys a little timidly. "I just want you to know that I think your poetry is very inspiring. It uplifts my spirits when everything seems very bleak. Thank you for sharing with us." He respectfully inclines his head.
Lorenz spends the first part of his watch silently looking out into the darkness, mentally reliving the battle with the giant purple moss thing. After a while he turns to Sasha.
"I wish you could have come with us today. It was scary with the large moving mushroom that stung us with the tentacles and hurt Douena and Mahjik so much, but it was exciting too. I don't know about you but sometimes in battle, when things are going well at least, I feel more alive...more real somehow than at any other time. When I can forget myself and get lost in motion things seem simple. Thrust and parry, shrug off the pain and...survive."
He shakes his head. "When things are that simple everything else seems sort of silly. There isn't much I can do well but I can fight." He looks at her, realizing he's been rambling on, probably like a moron. "Anyway, I was just thinking that and it reminded me of you. You always seem very alive to me, but when you're fighting, you seem to...shine with it. With life, I mean. So I...well, I thought you might have enjoyed that battle."
Swollen with red blotches, Mahjik is not a sight for sore eyes. He wakes up an hour early - sleep stolen from him by his sense of ill-being. The rot from the fungal tentacles had abated ever so slightly - but his body picked up a disturbing twitch and red ugly blotches. "*cough* ...just great" he mumbles to himself...
Urza feels worse and worse as he watches. He doesn't mean to, but he falls asleep part way through his watch with Aerys.
Mahjik does not take a watch, trying sleeping through to get more rest. Jask cares for the little Vudrani man, but twice over Mahjik wakes up from Jask's wracking cough. "Wise man would worry - you sound like a man on the verge of collapse. Maybe you should lie down too." After a while Mahjik adds. "I'm worried, I can feel my body is suffering more than it should. Maybe there's some after effect from the Fungusking."
Jask nods. "I think maybe you're right. I've taken a decided turn for the worse this night. I advise everyone else to rest when they're ill. I should take my own advice more."
Before the watches start he approaches Aerys a little timidly. "I just want you to know that I think your poetry is very inspiring. It uplifts my spirits when everything seems very bleak. Thank you for sharing with us." He respectfully inclines his head.
Aerys smiles. "Thank you, Lorenz. That means a lot to me. I know not all my actions have been the most inspiring, so if my poetry can help people not behave the way I did when we got here, then everything's working out." She pats him on the arm.
When Urza falls asleep, Aerys goes over to him and wakes him again. "You don't look well," she says. "You've got the same rashes Jask has. I'll take the rest of watch. You get some rest. I only woke you so that you wouldn't feel guilty in the morning."
"If they are, they have never shown it."
He is quiet for a long time.
"I do not think she is watching me now. I used to think she could see everything because she always seemed to know I was doing or about to do. I used to ask her if she could she, and I always jumped when she answered from the different direction. We weren't the same race, but that didn't bother her at all. It's never bothered me before for that matter."
"Does it bother you now?" Douena wonders aloud. "To be raised by wolves and elves and be something else entirely?"
Sasha grins. "Large moving mushrooms with tentacles sounds awesome! I do kind of wish I was there. I do get a rush out of fighting and even killing things." Her smile vanishes, and she looks away, a distant look in her eyes. "That's part of why I had to get away from the Red Mantis. If I'd become what my mother wanted me to become, I think I might have enjoyed it too much, and that's not good."
She's quiet for a moment and then suddenly grins again. "But marching through the jungle and killing killer mushrooms? That, I can handle! Glad to know you were thinking of me, Lorenz. I think we'll make a good team once we get off this island. Oh, and sorry about getting angry with you the other night, but you really were acting pretty stupid about the whole Douena thing."
The morning dawns hot and stuffy. Unlike normal, Jask does not have breakfast ready as you wake. According to Aakif , Jask was feeling too sick to stay up during their watch and went back to sleep. He has not gotten back up yet. As such, you are left to come up with your own breakfasts from the scattered supplies of rations, fish, and berries. Mahjik and Urza are also feeling ill.
As you're getting yourselves food to eat, you suddenly hear a cry from Pezock on the other side of the crab.
Order: Mahjik, Douena, Aakif, Makoa, Pezock, Gelik, Unknown, Ishirou, Urza, Lorenz, Sasha, Aerys, Jask.
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