Urza's not particularly skilled at this sort of thing, but he is willing to work through the heat.
Panting, sweat pouring down his face in fat rivulets, Lorenz staggered into the shade of a large bore tree and sank to the ground. "I never thought I'd find myself missing the ship." He muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"I need a break. And some ice. Perhaps a fine winter storm with hail and frostbite. Do people actually live in places such as this? Why didn't anyone ever mention how abominably hot it gets here? Is it too much to ask for a breeze?"
As Lorenz joins Douena in the shade, complaining, she smiles impishly, grips her holy symbol, and flicks her fingers in his direction. As he seats himself, a gallon of water suddenly pops into existence over his head, drenching him.
Gelik bursts into laughter as Lorenz is drenched by the water. "So you have a sense of humour after all, Douena!" he exclaims. "Bravo!"
"We're in Garund, Lorenz," Sasha says with a laugh. "Well, an island off of Garund, but close enough. There are no winter storms down here!" She sits down beside him and wipes sweat from her forehead. "That said, it is too hot to keep up this work. Let's rest until it cools down a little. Got any more of that water, Douena?"
Douena smiles again and flicks her fingers, this time with a bigger gesture, and the air around Sasha and Lorenz is filled with droplets that patter down like an tiny and all-too-brief rainshower. "Or did you mean to drink?" she asks.
"I meant exactly what you did," Sasha says. "But now that you mention it, a drink would be nice, too."
She and the others can pass around waterskins to Douena for filling.
Aakif removes his heavy metal armor after the camp location is found, and in fact pulls off his calfskin shirt as well. When the group decides to wait out the hottest hours, he finds himself and Soulwind a spot of shade and leans against a tree, daydreaming in semi-solitude. He absolutely refuses to have anything to do with Douena's conjured water, instead nursing sips from the entirely non-magical contents of his own waterskin.
"Wise man embraces work as he embraces rest." Mahjik, being Vudrani, is somewhat more used to these conditions than the others so he sees no reason to remark on the environment. Even so small rivulets of sweat pearl along his face as he sits on a rock. He shares in the water that is passed around, squirting some of it into the air and letting it fall onto him, partially down his face and partially down his open mouth. He rubs his eyes clear of the salty sweat that threatens to wash into it and beams a smile at Douena, his hand posture holding the waterskin threatening to squirt some at her.
With a cry of delight, Lorenz turned his face up into the shower of water that enveloped him, sputtering and coughing even as he sighed with relief.
"That's...that's much better. Far better to be wet from water than from the air itself. Douena, I take back every cruel word I ever said to you."
At Sasha's words, Lorenz shrugged sheepishly. "I'd heard it could be unpleasant in these lands but none of the stories ever quite conveyed the reality of how oppressive the heat can be here. Perhaps, Gelik, you'll be able to do better."
He enjoyed the second soaking even more than the first, laughing as the water cascaded over his body.
Douena quickly waggles her fingers, delivering a gallon of water over Mahjik's head in a pre-emptive strike. Then she laughs and stands up, arms spread, to make her tiny self a bigger target for the waterskin.
Makoa laughs roughly as he watches the others play in the water Douena creates. The little priestess will do wonders for moral...
Mahjik smiles a little mischievously and sends a squirt towards Douena in a high trajectory - and just as she raises her face to welcome the waters she is splashed unexpectedly as Mahjik shoots a second faster squirt in a near-level trajectory. He then comes up to her, holding the waterskin, indicating it needs refilling.
You all enjoy a bit of water splashing and drinking to help stave off the heat. Even Aerys's spirits seem to lighten up a bit for a short while, and you catch a couple of occasional smiles from Ishirou.
There's a brief rainshower while you wait, but it does nothing to cool things down. Eventually, however, after about 3 hours or so, the sweltering heat begins to lessen and you decide it's possible to return to work. It only takes another hour or so to complete the camp.
With the camp finally set up, Lorenz steps away to eye the group's work, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "That'll do well enough," he muttered to himself.
"Now that we're somewhat established, we are going to need to talk about our situation." Lorenz says to the group.
"Most of us are strangers, to some degree. It's natural to feel some hesitation or reluctance to trust one another too closely but we're going to need to rely on each other to survive the days ahead. We need to keep this camp well established against whatever beasts call this island home. We'll also have to seek out ways to get off the island. Does anyone know how close we are to Eleder from this place?"
"According to the map of Desperation Bay you found," Gelik says, "this island is about 40 miles from Eleder, give or take. So swimming for Eleder is certainly not an option. I'm not too hopeful about our chances of building a boat and sailing there either."
"This island is supposed to have.. unfriendly natives. Perhaps they may have a boat we could 'borrow'? Or we can take the time to make a boat-or several small ones-that could get us to Eledar."
"it may be hotter than I'm used to, but I like it here. Reminds me of home..."
Urza is rather proud of the camp they've managed to build. He takes a moment to appreciate it.
"I agree that our best chance is to find the natives and take one or more of their boats. Even if another ship were to come here, I doubt we could trust them very much at all." He announces, "Tomorrow, I'm going in search of them."
Gelik shudders. "I have no wish to deal with a bunch of unruly natives. Sasha, didn't you say they were cannibals?
"Well, that's what the rumours--" Sasha starts, but Gelik interrupts her. "Going after cannibals is just likely to get us all eaten," he says. "No, no, I won't be part of that. I suggest we find some way to send a message to someone to come rescue us."
"I'll be heading out with Urza, just to be sure he doesn't get into trouble. Anyone who wishes to join us is welcome to come along."
"Urza, I think we should just scout the island tomorrow. We need to know the land before we think about taking a boat."
"I will defer to your superior knowledge my friend."
"I have no wish to swim anywhere, whether it's 40 miles or 4 yards. And building a boat doesn't appeal to me either, unless one of you happens to be a shipbuilder. No? I didn't think so. I don't know what the solution may be, but it seems unlikely that we'll find rescue from someone coming to the island itself, since everyone seems to avoid Smuggler's Shiv like a 50 year old bald prostitute."
Lorenz rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'd rather not run into cannibals at all, much less try to steal boats from them that they're not all that likely to have. But exploring the island is a good idea! We should know more about this place, just in case we're stuck here a while. Not in ones or twos, however. That'll just get us killed in ones and twos if this place is as dangerous as everyone says."
He looks briefly morose at the idea. Then he shakes the thought off and forges ahead. "So I think some of us should stay here to guard the camp. Another group should explore together. Perhaps we can stick to the shoreline! If there are more shipwrecks, we might be able to get some more supplies or better still, find a rowboat!"
Sasha nods. "I agree with Lorenz here." She pats him on the shoulder, kind of surprising given her previous attitude around him. However, she seems to have let some of that go in the past few hours. "I can stay by the camp and do some hunting while people go exploring. Maybe I can help supplement our food supplies a little."
"Ooh, more shipwrecks," Douena exclaims, her eyes gleaming. "It'll be like a treasure hunt. I think we should walk the shoreline, too. If we're all buried in the trees, a whole fleet of ships could sail by and neither them nor us would be the wiser. Plus, we can't get lost following the shoreline like we can in the jungle."
Jask has been stroking his beard contemplatively for the last couple minutes of the conversation. He speaks up now. "If you're going to search for shipwrecks, perhaps I can ask a favour of you. None of you have any reason to do this for me, and I don't have much to offer in repayment, but I know of a ship, the Brine Demon. Her captain was a man named Avret Kinkarian. He was one of my superior's contacts in the Shackles when I still worked for the Sargavan government. The Brine Demon disappeared and was believed to have been wrecked on Smuggler's Shiv. It is a long shot. A very long shot, but if the ship did wreck here, and any of it is still left, there is a chance--a very small chance--there might be proof of my innocence on board. I do not feel I would be much help to you in exploring. That is not where my strengths lie. So the best I can offer you in return is to stay here at the camp and provide my services as a medic of sorts. I can patch you up when you return each evening, and I can spend the daytime working on ways to lessen the impact of the bugs here to help ensure that none of us contract any diseases. I know this is a lot to ask, but if you would do this, I would be forever grateful."
Aakif nods to Jask. "If there's proof of your innocence to be found on this island, we'll find it. I think exploring the coast is a good plan, anyway; if we can get an idea of the coastline, we can figure out where on the island we are, plus there aren't as many of these damned bugs out of the jungle."
Mahjik nods in unison with Aakif. "Yes indeed; I think I'll join the exploration party and keep their spirits up and" - with a friendly nudge at Gelik - "I think you can do much the same here, no?"
Mahjik takes another look at the map then sketches a rough version in the ground. Marking both the suspected position of the Jenivere and the location of the camp site. "Given that we suspect our position to be here, I suggest that we start towards the west to verify our location by finding the far point of this sickle-like northern reach of the island."
Lorenz's face betrays his astonishment at Sasha's good natured support and for a moment he simply sits there quietly, beaming. They he smiles hesitantly at her and says, "I think hunting while I and some others are exploring sounds like a fine idea. Mahjik's notion for Gelik is also a good one."
Turning to Jask, Lorenz agreed with Aakif and Mahjik. "I was wrong about you, and I'm man enough to admit it. If I can help to make up for that wrongdoing by helping you, I will do so. I'm sure it would also make the coming challenges more bearable, knowing that you won't be exchanging one prison for another. If that evidence is to be found here, then I give you my word that we will find it." Lorenz put his hands on the hilt of his rapier as he spoke the last.
As Mahjik pointed out his suggested path on the map, Lorenz spoke up again. "That's a sound plan. But we should wait for morning on the morrow, I think. Best to start out rested and ready to face the day's challenges!"
"Well it sounds like we have a plan. Tomorrow ought to very interesting."
Mahjik pulls Jask and Sasha aside since they volunteered for medical and hunting-gathering duties. He spends a little time with them to point out some of the nearby plants, seeds, flowers, roots, tubers and fruit that are edible, dangerous or have properties useful to ward off infection and similar benefits.
Sasha gives Mahjik a friendly pat on the back. "I never took you for a wilderness survival expert, Mahjik, but you've shown some pretty good insights helping us find this camp and all. You're constantly full of surprises. As it happens, I know a few survival tricks myself, so you can count on me to find something edible for us. But thanks for the tips!" She gives him a broad smile.
Douena sidles up to Aakif. "There's nothing wrong with my water, you know," she tells him. "It's just like rain that falls from the sky, except instead of having to wait for a cloud, Desna gives it to me. It's not scary magic water." She waggles her fingers menacingly.
Aakif looks at Douena with consideration for a moment before responding. "I mean no disrespect to you or to your Goddess by my actions." He bows to the much smaller woman. "Among my people, magic is only used by the tribal Shaman, and only for the good of the tribe as a whole. I have grown somewhat used to the way outsiders treat magic, but it is still not the way of my people. I ask that you respect my wishes in this matter and hope that it will not hurt our ability to work together." He appears apologetic, but absolutely unwilling to bend his principles on the matter.
She looks up at him skeptically. "Magic for necessity, not fun," she distills, a bit glumly. "That's certainly not the way of my people."
"Yes, that's about right. I'm afraid I wouldn't fit in well with your people anyway," Aakif adds with a slow grin. "I'd stick out like a great sore thumb."
"Well," she smiles, "you'd probably knock your head on a few doorways."
Lorenz stands and begins some stretching exercises, moving from one combat stance to another in a smooth, flowing motion that defies his unusual graceless movements. Sweat quickly breaks out in the heat and when finished he wipes his brow with disgust before speaking.
"Perhaps we should see about supping and preparing for the evening. Shall we set up some watches for tonight? I'm happy to stand first watch, though I must confess, my night vision is as flawed as any human's."
There's not been much time for proper hunting today, so you pull out rations and distribute those. Gelik and Douena only need half as much since they are small sized, so altogether, you use up ten days worth of rations between the eleven of you.
"I must get a good night's sleep if I am to be of any use around the camp tomorrow," Gelik says, "so I leave night watches to you big strong fellows."
Sasha rolls her eyes. "Yeah, we wouldn't want you tired, Gelik. You might forget to magic your clothes clean and then we wouldn't be able to take you seriously. As for me, I'm happy to help out with the watches overnight."
"Hrrrmph!" is all Gelik says in response.
"Get your sleep. I will take second watch, when the night becomes darker, if no one has objections."
Mahjik nods to Makao, "Third watch it is for me then. Wise man would rise before the sun and greet it to promote a long life."
Douena looks up from her model of the Jenivere, which she is inscribing her name on with arcane mark, to ask curiously, "How many watches are there?"
"Five two-hour watches would ensure that everyone gets 8 hours sleep," Sasha suggests. "We've got enough people to pull that off, I think, even with Gelik getting his beauty sleep. We could even double-up a few."
Mahjik looks up at the mention of double-ups. "If Miss Mavato would join the duties, I would be paired with her." Looking up expectantly at Aerys.
"We should definitely take advantage of our numbers. Five two-hour watches sound like a great idea to me, and I think we should double-up where we can. Perhaps, when possible, it would be wise to pair a night-visioned guard with one who cannot see so well in darkness?"
Lorenz looked to Makoa and Urza in particular while speaking that last.
Aerys scowls at Mahjik. "Frankly, if we all get killed in the night, I don't really care. At least it would be over with, rather than wasting away slowly over the next few days."
Pointedly ignoring the half-elf's complaints, Douena counts on her fingers. "Let's see, there's eleven of us, so if there's only one slacker" (this word is spat in Aerys' direction) "everyone can have a watch-buddy. I choose Makoa," she concludes happily. "We make a good team: I wake him up, and he bites the bugs."
Mahjik smiles: "So, apart from your misgivings, you're not actually rejecting taking a watch shift?"
Aerys's face reddens, and she looks about ready to burst. "That is not what I... Oh to hell with it! I'll take a damn shift. Have we got anything to drink around here?"
"You can take a watch with me then." Urza says quickly. "I'll wake you when it's time."
"And Sasha and Lorenz." Douena pairs them up, glancing coyly at the bumbling mercenary out of the corner of her eye to see if he blushes.