Lorenz nods in agreement with Mahjik. "I'd rather travel in the dark than camp here too. But if we're stuck here then I guess I'll just have to hope none of the cannibals can see in the dark."
"I didn't actually think that Aycenia was saying this spot on the island was evil. I thought she was saying that there's an evil in the island itself, more in general. Or maybe I was just confused. Am just confused. Whatever. Thank you for the healing, though!"
Since the decision already seems to be made, Lorenz looks for a reasonably defendable spot with a few trees as shelter and sinks down to the ground, his bow in his lap, ready for whatever trouble might come for them.
Lorenz nods in agreement with Mahjik. "I'd rather travel in the dark than camp here too. But if we're stuck here then I guess I'll just have to hope none of the cannibals can see in the dark."
"Psh!" Douena scoffs. "They're just humans. They're just as blind in the dark as you are. They wouldn't take the chance of travelling a trapped trail in the dark and getting stuck on their own spikes."
"Psh!" Douena scoffs. "They're just humans. They're just as blind in the dark as you are. They wouldn't take the chance of travelling a trapped trail in the dark and getting stuck on their own spikes."
Aerys nods. "I suspect we're safer here than we are most other places. Except Aycenia's grove, of course. If the cannibals treat this as some sort of shrine, they probably come here expecting to worship, not fight."
Lorenz nods. "I'm actually not that worried about the cannibals. I'm more worried about other things. Like that chupercaper that Aycenia was telling us about."
He turns to Aerys. "That, and some of you were really upset when we didn't come back that one night. I don't want to worry anyone like that again. But..." He sighs and looks warily up at the sky. "Well, whatever you all decide."
Aerys nods. "I suspect we're safer here than we are most other places. Except Aycenia's grove, of course. If the cannibals treat this as some sort of shrine, they probably come here expecting to worship, not fight."
"Wise man would be as an Absalomian, when in Absalom. I think our ideas of worship, and theirs, might differ drastically. I would assume that they are as deadly in either way."
Aerys nods. "I suspect we're safer here than we are most other places. Except Aycenia's grove, of course. If the cannibals treat this as some sort of shrine, they probably come here expecting to worship, not fight.""Wise man would be as an Absalomian, when in Absalom. I think our ideas of worship, and theirs, might differ drastically. I would assume that they are as deadly in either way."
Douena nods. "They probably sacrifice people here," she says solemnly, "before they eat them. All those skulls weren't the captain's. But they'd bring their sacrifices with them," she goes on more cheerily. "I doubt they'd expect to find us here waiting for them."
Aerys shivers. "That's a good point. But like you said, they probably won't travel in the dark."
You set up a light camp as evening settles in. The rain continues to fall until well after dusk, and over the night it rains intermittently.
As you eat dinner that evening, Aerys is noticeably shivering. Her hands tremble as she raises food to her mouth. You notice a bit of redness on the back of her hands and her neck. She says nothing, however.
Mahjik takes Aerys by the hand, examining it closely. "Aerys; I think you've picked up the red fever too. Seems everybody is getting a turn these days. Urza? Are you doing better? Maybe it spreads from person to person rather than from person to everybody." Mahjik tries to help, but fails short in accomplishing anything of use.
"Little one! Come have a look here - I think Aerys caught a bug. And I don't mean the edible kind."
Douena bustles over to have a look at the shivering woman. "It's being down here in this jungle again; we're just surrounded by a miasma of vapors wanting to make people sick," she complains. "Eep!" Douena takes a look, then leaps back in horror. "It's the Creeping Red Death!"
Mahjik grins mischievously and then rears up a blank expression on his face. In a monotonous monotone he drones on his arms stretched out towards Douena as he slowly lumbers towards her: "You are the last one - but you too will succumb to the crimson mist."
"Brraaaaainnsss..." he adds for good measure.
Aerys just nods in response to Mahjik's comment on her health. After Douena inspects her, she says, "I think I'll lie down for a bit. Wake me up for my watch." She gets up, stumbles over to the area you've set up for sleeping, and lies down.
Urza settles in for the night. If allowed, he will sleep through the night, trusting to their location to keep them safe. If awakened before Aerys, he will allow her to sleep to better fight the disease.
After Urza and Aerys lie down, exhausted, Douena creeps up to the others. "There's four of us not sick. Shall we split the watches between us and let Urza and Aerys sleep? I'm worried about her going back tomorrow, and I think maybe it was a good thing she stayed. Walking through the night, as weak as she got, might have made her worse. Remember how bad Jask got when we were going to Aycenia's hill?"
"Perfectly acceptable. We'll cope well enough with four guards. Will we do two long shifts with two people each, or four short ones individually?"
Looking warily at the red marks on Aery's skin, Lorenz shivers.
"I'll take first watch as usual. I think it might be better to just do four of them rather than two. We're going to want to be well rested for traveling all the way back to Aycenia's tomorrow."
"As much as I enjoy the nightly conversations with our priestess, I agree with Lorenz. Four shifts would be best." Makoa says quietly, so as not to disturb his sleeping companions. "We need our rest too."
The night goes by somewhat quietly (the constant chatter of monkeys that usually fills the jungle is somewhat subdued tonight). On Makoa's watch, he notices a dark shape flying across the sky to the east, probably the winged chupucabra aka Red Mountain Devil. It doesn't come anywhere near the group however, so is probably completely unaware of you.
Morning arrives along with a brief rain shower. You prepare a meager breakfast and then begin readying for the journey back to Aycenia's grove. Aerys's rashes are more noticeable, but she's not shaking as much as she was last night. She remains quiet though.
Lorenz starts to take the lead and then stops. "Mahjik, you reset one of those traps. I think you ought to lead the way. I really don't want to get spikes rammed into my chest again."
He keeps his bow out and ready and warily eyes the jungle around them. "I don't know why, but I really have a feeling we're going to run into some cannibals today."
Just before the party is ready to depart, Douena says, "Wait! I want to see something." Turning toward the deboned hut, she holds up her butterfly and says, "Looking for trouble, Desna."
Douena does not find any sources of evil in or around the hut.
"Great! Let us be off - the sooner we return, the sooner our friends can rest easy. Besides, Douena will never forgive us if she's not there the first time little Alton tries to fly." Mahjik leads the way, keeping a careful lookout.
You set back out along the trail, making your way gradually down the hill, then back southwest along the side of the cliff. You make it back to the intersection where Douena disabled the trap in good time.
There's no indication that anything here has been disturbed since you last past through here, so you quickly set out into the jungle.
Makoa is easily able to find the route you took yesterday, which helps to speed up your journey a little, since a lot of clearing the way has already been done. By late morning, you arrive at the trail crossing the river. You carefully avoid the reset trap and then set to crossing the river. The heat of the day is starting to rise, but there's another hour left before the really hot hours set in.
"This is going better than I thought it would. Hopefully we'll be getting back plenty early today."
Lorenz looks at the sun and decides to hold off on removing his armor until another hour has passed.
Assisting Douena, you swim across the river and then continue west down the trail on the other side. About 10 minutes later, you re-enter the jungle, taking care to cover your tracks, and continue southwest.
You once again find your tracks from yesterday (this time, Lorenz is the one to spot them), helping to speed your journey up a little.
"We should stop and rest a while," Douena says. "We're making good time." She gives a meaningful glance toward Aerys, who has been pressing forward silently if grimly despite her weakness.
"You're right, little one." To Aerys he adds: "I carry almost no burden - if you want, I can carry you some of the way. Or at least let me take your excess gear."
Lorenz shrugs. He'd wanted to continue on so that they could get back to the camp safely and let the sick rest, but he wasn't about to suggest it.
"All right," he says instead.
"I'm eager to get back, too," Douena confides, sitting down next to Lorenz. "I want to see if the land gave Aycenia my message. But Aerys is weak, and there's no point making her walk through the hot part of the day when it's not absolutely necessary."
Lorenz nods and then smiles. "You're right. Besides, I always rather enjoy our mid-day breaks. It's something to look forward to."
He relaxes considerably, though he keeps his bow on his lap, listening to the now familiar sounds of the jungle.
Mahjik experiments with a long sturdy branch he finds. The experiments apparently involve fiddling with bits of vine and palm leafs and wrapping them in different ways. Eventually he seems satisfied, for no apparent reason.
Aerys looks relieved to be stopping, although she still says little (unless spoken to) and remains quiet, staring off into the jungle for most of the time you remain there.
At last, the rain begins falling again about three hours later, cutting through the heat. You gather your things and set off once more.
You travel for about an hour, after which Makoa, Mahjik, and Urza notice a slight glimmering in the trees up ahead. It only takes a moment to realize that it comes from a huge web stretched out across a pair of trees. As they watch, a massive spider raises its head.
Order: Aerys, Lorenz, Douena, Mahjik, Urza, Giant Spider, Makoa
First Up: Urza, Giant Spider, Makoa.
Urza casts Shield.
Mahjik shuttles passed Makao before anybody else can act. His eyes are firmly set into the treelines; and as he approaches the others suddenly see some scrabbling motion that reveals the camouflaged body of a gigantic spider. Before it can fully turn to Mahjik his fist snakes between threads of sticky thread to hit the creature with a potentially disabling attack.
Mahjik shuttles passed Makao before anybody else can act. His eyes are firmly set into the treelines; and as he approaches the others suddenly see some scrabbling motion that reveals the camouflaged body of a gigantic spider. Before it can fully turn to Mahjik his fist snakes between threads of sticky thread to hit the creature with a potentially disabling attack.
1d20 + 4 1d6 + 1
Mahjik moves up towards the spider and prepares to attack it, while Urza casts his spell. As Mahjik reaches the spider, it contorts and sprays silky strands out at him.
The sticky strands cover Mahjik's body, impairing his arms and legs and making it difficult to move.
Next Up: Aerys, Lorenz, Douena, Mahjik, Urza, Giant Spider.
"Heh, wonder what eats you?" Makoa says as he eyes the spider and throws an axe it's way.
"Heh, wonder what eats you?" Makoa says as he eyes the spider and throws an axe it's way.
1d20+3
1d6+3
Makoa throws his axe, but his attempts to avoid Mahjik, result in the axe going too high and getting caught in the spider's web.
Aerys shakes off her lethargy and moves toward the spider .
Next Up: Douena, Mahjik, Urza, Giant Spider, Makoa, Aerys.
Unaware that there was even any danger to be aware of, Lorenz gasps in surprise as Mahjik is suddenly sprayed with spiderweb, before raising his bow to fire.
Realizing that Aerys, sick as she is, has run forward he shouts in alarm,
"Aerys! Be careful!"
Lorenz's arrow lodges into the spider's abdomen. The spider tries to shake it out, but it stays put.
Next Up: Mahjik, Urza, Giant Spider, Makoa, Aerys, Lorenz.
"Heh, wonder what eats you?"
"Bleh. Not us, I hope," Douena responds. "I ate the snake, and I ate the lizard-on-a-stick, but I draw the line at giant spiders." She moves up behind the entangled Mahjik and carefully touches a non-stickified part of him. "Desna bless you," she says.
Mahjik grins as the webbing slows him down for a moment - but then almost too fast to see a series of powerful attacks erupt on the spider.
1d20 + 3 - 2 1d6 + 1
1d20 + 3 - 2 1d6 + 1
The webs are only a minor annoyance for Mahjik. He pounds into the spider, leaving dents in its abdomen. The spider reels and shudders, uncertain of its footing.
Next Up: Giant Spider (no action due to stun), Makoa, Aerys, Lorenz, Douena, Mahjik.
Urza scrambles through the foliage to U 65. (double move)
Urza moves up and the spider continues to shudder in place.
Next Up: Aerys, Lorenz, Douena, Mahjik, Urza, Giant Spider.
Makoa quickly moves in when he sees Mahjik has stunned the spider and caused it to stay still. As large as it is he has little trouble trying to bite it...
Finding purchase is much more difficult though, and his over sized teeth scrape across it's chitinous body.
Lorenz smoothly pulls another arrow from his quiver, draws it back in his short bow and lets fly.
Unfortunately, just as he is releasing the arrow an insect buzzes perilously close to his ear, startling Lorenz and sending the arrow flying wildly into the sky.