Mahjik looks at the retreating cannibals and decides that he has little chance to take them on still.
The last cannibal disappears into the depths of the jungle.
With the battle over, Sasha immediately turns back to the camp to recover Alton from Pezock. Aerys and Ishirou begin dragging the bodies of the dead cannibals away. After that, Aerys grabs a rope and ties up the one who's stable, while Ishirou begins resetting the traps around the camp.
"We need to plan carefully our next act," Jask says, still looking weak. "Douena's right. They know where we are now. Next time, they'll come with greater numbers."
Douena looks at Pezock's shell appraisingly. "Makoa or someone might be able to carry it ... if I helped him. I know the only ultimate way to protect ourselves from the cannibals is to take the fight to them, but we're not ready to do that yet. Jask and Mahjik and Urza are sick, and we still have to find the tree-lady. To find her, we have to leave the camp, but I don't want to leave anyone behind. If more cannibals come back while some of us are gone, the ones left behind won't stand a chance, especially if anyone's still sick. What I was thinking is, what if we moved our camp to Fungus Island? It's not fungussy anymore, we got rid of all the pygmies, we'll be protected by the tide for part of the day, and it'll take them at least a little while to find out where we've gone. What if we went there -- just until everyone's well again and we've had a chance to get the lady who lives in a tree on our side?"
"That's actually pretty good, little one. If you can convince Pezock of it. I'm not sure about carrying this giant carapace - but do you think we can make it float? Then we can get it to fungus island relatively easily."
"There's no way that thing will float," Aerys says, looking critically at the giant crab. She points to the joints of the nearest leg. "There are far too many places for water to leak through. It'll sink like a stone. I don't rank our ability to carry it very high either. Still, the fungus island might be a good place to hide. We'll just have to leave the crab behind."
"Hide? I think this is the time to take the offensive. They'll be planning on coming at us. Why not hit their camp while many of their warriors are away? Then they will return to a nasty surprise."
Mahjik turns to Pezock: "You've explored a bit towards the cannibal's side of the island. Do you know of a likely spot we can use to ambush them? If we're a few hours further south from here we would be deep in their territory - they'd not expect an ambush and we could take on a pretty large group. Ishirou's traps are pretty darn amazing - with some luck that is enough to take out substantial group." Mahjik adds after a moment of hesitation, "It is possible that if we slay a sufficiently large group of them, that they'll hesitate to attack us again soon after - the remainder of the tribe might want to stay in the relative safety of their homes and consult with whatever gods or demons they have. That might buy us enough time to clear out more of this island before assaulting their camp."
"I don't know how heavy it is," Douena responds, glancing at the crabshell critically, "but Desna will lend me some strength for a while. If I give it to someone who's already pretty strong, I think we might be able to move it." "The only thing is, Pezock's got it fixed up pretty well, and moving it might throw off some of his 'improvements.' Hopefully, we'd be able to fix it with some magic on the other end."
She listens to Urza's opinion. "It's a good idea ... if everyone's well and we can get into position to carry it out soon enough. I just don't know if we can get our ducks in a row before they strike back at us. We'd need to know how many of them there are in the first place and exactly how to get there; no point wandering around aimlessly through trap-filled jungles and letting them stalk us in their own territory." She pauses. "Let's see how much information we can get out of Mr. Chewy over there when he comes to. I think Fungus Island is a good idea, though; as far as they know, it's still all mushroomy and pygmy-infested so they might avoid it, thinking we'd never go there."
Pezock stares at Douena in disbelief. "Desna will help you pick my home up? Who gave her the right to do that? I'll decide who can or can't pick my home up!" He pauses and thinks for a moment. "I suppose if you're careful not to break anything, it might be fun to move somewhere else. Hmmm..."
"There is one problem with going to the fungus island," Jask says. He pauses a moment to sit down and wipe sweat from his brow. "It is farther from the cannibals' village than we are now, making the journey time there longer. We should definitely question the captive though. Assuming we can speak his language, of course. If we can't, Nethys can grant me the ability to understand him, but unfortunately, not make him understand me."
"And there's that possible ally too."
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Lorenz stands from examining one of the cannibal bodies. "I still don't understand what you are all afraid of. These cannibals don't seem to be much of a threat. They wear no armor, their weapons are broken and they don't seem to have any concept of combat strategy other than foam at the mouth and charge. And if they eat people, they've probably been eating each other too so it's not like there's going to be hundreds of them."
He kicks at the hilt of one the broken weapons. "I think there's a greater danger in assualting them at their stronghold or village or whatever it is than there is of them attacking us here. Why should we go through all the trouble to move the camp right now? Better to wait here, rest and recover and be prepared for another attack. Then when everyone's feeling better, we can investigate this tree-woman or try to get a good look at the camp."
"Wise man seeks answers in the clouds and portents in the waters. You may be right Lorenz, it does seem like a sound strategy. But it is quite possible that a larger detachment will assault us next. Maybe a dozen, maybe more. On top of that, we need to be lucky every time - they need to be lucky only once."
"We've seen three other camps that were raided by the cannibals and where people were tortured and died in horrible ways," Douena reminds Lorenz. "Remember the teeth? We have to assume that either those groups were much weaker and less prepared than we are -- even though they all had permanent shelters set up -- or the cannibals are much more dangerous when they come in force than when they just send a scouting party." She turns to Pezock. "Pezock, how many were there who attacked your crew's camp? Just a few, or lots and lots?"
"Oh, not many," Pezock says. "Three or four dozen. Something like that. We were terribly outnumbered. But not to worry. They will fall to us this time! Yes they will!" He pats his sabre and looks down lovingly at it. "Yes they will."
"Well, whatever we decide to do, we won't be doing it tonight," Gelik says, straightening his hat. "Our captive won't be wakening up for a while. I believe we were about to have some dinner. I suggest we do that and discuss our plans further while we eat. Then I'll perform the next section of Aerys's poem and we can get some sleep. I'll just go and prepare while the food's cooking."
Lorenz frowns at Pezock's response. "And did they catch your camp by surprise? Were you aware of their presence on the island before you were attacked? How well armed were your companions?"
He looks at Douena. "Judging by those shelters, I think we're better equipped than the other camps had been, and we seem to be more suited to survival here than they. Building a bunch of semi-permanent shelters on the beach isn't exactly the best way to go about things, after all. Besides, we were able to wipe out those mold-men. That giant mushroom was a far more difficult a battle than any of these conflicts with the cannibals so far."
He looked around at the others. "In the end, if there really are several dozen of these cannibals around, I'd rather be attacked on our ground, where we can have traps and fortifications, than to fight them on theirs where they've got the advantage. And our situation will be all the worse if they catch us while we're between camps."
He smiles at Gelik. "Good ideas!"
Pezock glares at Lorenz with narrowed eyes. "Are you suggesting the crew of the Crow's Tooth were incompetent? That they couldn't build shelters or defend themselves? Hmm?" He shakes visibly. "They took us by surprise while we slept and they terribly outnumbered us. Otherwise, we would have slaughtered them. Captain Zoventai could have killed them all single handedly. She would have knocked their heads together and slit their throats if they hadn't slit hers while she slept. They are cowards and they will die!"
Makoa moves quickly to place a hand on Pezock's shoulder.
"Calm yourself, Pezock. He was trying to understand what happened, how the crew was attacked. Know your prey and the hunt is already successful."
Pezok relaxes a little at Makoa's touch. "Ah, well that's all right then. Knowing your prey is definitely a good thing."
Douena moves up closer to Lorenz. "I'm not so worried about getting attacked while we're all here," she tells him more quietly. "I'm worried about what happens when we leave, to go look for the tree-lady. The cannibals don't seem terribly bright so far, but if they're smart at all, they could watch us leave and attack us while we're split up. How would you like to come back after a day of exploring to a scene like the one in the house on the other shore? With Jask sick, and little Alton?" She shakes her head. "I don't want to leave anyone behind. If we don't move camp to somewhere more out of the way, then we should forget about the tree-lady, wait until everyone's well, and try our luck against the cannibals all together."
Lorenz looks to Douena and nods with understanding. "If there truly are several dozen of the cannibals, perhaps we should all combine our efforts against them together. But until the cannibals are taken care of, I don't think it'd be a good idea for us split up again, no matter where we camp."
He looks somewhat sheepish. "That's what I think, anyway."
"I agree with Lorenz, splitting up would only make us easier to attack. We can't think my wo- Desna's going to help us so directly again," Makoa says with a half-hearted gesture to the jungle, "so we need to stay together."
"Can we convince Pezock to leave his shell behind?" Douena wonders. "I know he'll come to attack the cannibals, but will he come with us to find the tree-lady? And is Alton ready to travel?"
"I'll leave my crab," Pezock says, "as long as we're set on destroying the cannibals. I can always come back to the crab afterwards. And if we have to go to the tree-lady first, that's fine. She's on the way." He goes over to the crab and pats one of the legs lovingly. "Don't worry. I won't be gone long."
"I guess that means we're in agreement. Shall we start first thing in the morning, or make effort tonight already? ...I'm hopeful to get one good night's rest - it might be sufficient to make me as ready as possible for the intensities that will follow."
"I think we should wait till morning," Jask says. "We need a good night's rest. I doubt they'll attack again before then. It will likely take the ones that got away all night just to get back to their village in order to let them know our location."
"Do you think Alton will be all right traveling with us, Sasha?" Douena asks. "If you want to catch lots of fish goo for him in case we're away from the water for a while, Desna can keep it from spoiling; I wouldn't want him to get hungry, or sick."
Sasha shrugs. "I'm not really sure. I think he'll be okay though. I'll keep a close eye on him and make sure he's doing all right. And I already intended to spend tonight's watch mashing up more fish guts. That's a fun job, let me tell you." She grins.
You settle down for the evening meal, followed by the Gelik's reading of the fourth section of the Abendego Cantos.
Gelik is obviously feeling uplifted again. His performance today is truly stunning, aided all the more by the text. It is full of emotion and intensity.
Mahjik mumbles as he falls asleep, "Wise... zzz... man can't eat anymore... zzz... oh don't do... said there'd be days... zzz"
Mahjik stretches, his limbs feel more forgiving and pliable than they have for a while now. "Now let us get our fine army ready and march!"
"We should eat first, so we can keep our strength up, don't you think?" Makoa says. "Besides, we got a baby that needs feeding even more than any of us."
"Ah yes! Little Alton; how's he doing Sasha?"
The morning dawns with a light drizzle of warm rain and the high-pitched squawks of little Alton.
"Just getting the morning feeding ready!" a weary-eyed Sasha says in response to Mahjik. "He's hungry!" After a slight pause, she adds with a bit of exasperation, "Again!"
Jask stumbles out of his tent, looking worse than ever. The red rashes now almost completely cover his visible skin. He blinks repeatedly from the light, grabs a small a mount of food, and stumbles back to the tent. The food bowl shakes in his unsteady hands and he almost drops it as he goes.
Mahjik looks to Jask, then to Douena. "I'll help you care for him; and I'll carry him when we need to travel - we're ill with the same disease, so he cannot infect me any more." Unfortunately Mahjik isn't a particular good aid to Douena.
Douena watches Jask with distress. "Oh, he looks very bad," she murmurs. "I've never heard of anyone dying from red ache, but if anyone was going to be the first.... Do you really think we should go ahead with moving camp today?"
"Jask, just say what you need me to do - I'll get it done as well as I can. If you don't think you can leave camp today, we'll stay - otherwise I'll be your aide and carry you if need be."
Jask sighs. "I would love to stay put and sleep," he says. "But I think it's too important that we move on. There's no need to carry me, but if you could carry my belongings, I'd appreciate it." He wipes sweat from his brow.
After eating breakfast, you begin prepping to move the camp. As you dismantle the tents and pack gear, Pezock stands beside the giant crab and pats it. "Don't worry," he tells it. "This is just like those times I go exploring. I'll only be gone a few days. Then I'll be back!"
Sasha has rigged up a contraption for carrying the little nest with Alton in it on her back. She grins as the little flappybite peers up over her shoulder and gives another high-pitched squeak.
Jask sits to the side during the preparation. He apologizes several times for not being able to help.
At last, everything is ready. "To the tree lady?" Pezock says.
"Do you know where her tree is exactly?" Douena asks Pezock. "How far is it?"
"Well, not exactly, but I know where it's close to," Pezock says. "It should only take a couple of days to get there. We'll need to do some crossing through the jungle."
Lorenz looks worriedly at Jask as everyone packs up the camp in preparation for the move, but says nothing, only taking the things that he's responsible for and making sure he hasn't forgotten anything.
"Two days?" Lorenz wipes sweat from his brow and sighs. "This probably isn't going to be very fun."
"Sure it is!" Douena answers cheerfully. "We'll all be together -- that's fun. And we have little Alton with us now -- he's much more fun than when he was an egg. And we're going somewhere we've never been before! What could be more fun than that?"
Mahjik nods happily as he watches Sasha prepare the trip for little Alton. But most of the time he's busying himself around Jask's instructions: smearing a plant pap, searching for some roots, boiling water, and so forth.
"I'm just saying, it's going to be hot. And carrying all this equipment will be hotter. But I suppose it will be nice to have the whole group together and I'm glad we've got little Alton to watch over."
Lorenz smiles in Sasha's direction.
"It's hot every day, Lorenz," Sasha says. "Hasn't stopped us yet."