Sasha glances at Lorenz. "Sure," she says. There's a slight bit of reticence in her voice, but that vanishes as she continues, "So, Lorenz and I on first watch, Douena and Makoa on second, Mahjik and...Ishirou for third? Urza and Aerys on fourth, and that leaves Aakif and Jask for last? And Gelik can get his beauty sleep."
Gelik nods approvingly.
"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.
Lorenz keeps his face low and for once is silent, though a faint flush does creep up his neck for reasons even he doesn't understand. He listens carefully as Sasha lists the watches and nods in agreement.
"I um, think we've got a good plan," he said finally. "It's encouraging that we're all able to band together like this."
"Sasha," Douena pipes up, "you seem to know the most about this place. Are there poisonous things here? Plants or animals?"
Mahjik nods warmly, but politely, at Ishirou. "Wise man embraces new opportunities."
Sasha shrugs. "Poisonous things, almost definitely. Probably both poisonous plants and poisonous animals. Those sea scorpion things probably have a poisoned sting. To be honest, though, I'd be much more worried about the rumours of undead and cannibals. Those are a lot scarier, I think."
"A pack of wolves can bring down a bear. Together we should have little to fear, as long as we tread carefully."
Makoa takes a spot near the outer edge of the camp for his bed, using his pack as a pillow.
With no objections to the watch schedule, you prepare to settle down for the night.
Sasha shrugs. "Poisonous things, almost definitely. Probably both poisonous plants and poisonous animals. Those sea scorpion things probably have a poisoned sting. To be honest, though, I'd be much more worried about the rumours of undead and cannibals. Those are a lot scarier, I think."
"Well," Douena responds, "I can't do much about about cannibals, but I can ask for Desna's help in looking out for poisonous things." As the rest of the group beds down, Douena instead takes a perch near the edge of the shelter watching for the stars to come out. "Don't mind me," she tells Sasha and Lorenz. "This is my time with Desna."
Douena spends an hour gazing at the stars and communing with her deity. When she's done, it hardly seems worth going to sleep before her turn at watch come up, so she stays awake "to chaperone Lorenz and Sasha," she tells herself. When their watch is over, she wakes up Makoa, with a bit less physical contact this time than this morning.
As Urza and Aerys get ready to watch, Urza starts to chat a bit. Ok, Aerys, the way I see it, we have three choices for our time on watch; we can chat a little, we can sit here in silence, or you can go to sleep and I'll keep watch. Which will it be? At that point she promptly rolls over and returns to sleep. Just so you know, we do have something to drink. We're just keeping it from you. Good night.
[ooc]That might help explain that roll.[/b]
"No bugs this time. Seems the first watch was successful, eh little priestess?"
"It's good to be in the wild again. I thought all that time on the ship may have dulled my teeth."
On watch, Lorenz is silent awhile, looking into the darkness and listening acutely. When he could no longer stand the silence, he moves closer to Sasha and speaks softly.
"If I have ever offended you in some way, I am sorry. I am far more skilled with my sw-- rapier than I am with words...if there is anything I can do to make amends, I vow that I will do it." He offers a tentative smile. "An adventurer makes enemies enough; I'd rather we are friends."
On watch, Lorenz is silent awhile, looking into the darkness and listening acutely. When he could no longer stand the silence, he moves closer to Sasha and speaks softly.
"If I have ever offended you in some way, I am sorry. I am far more skilled with my sw-- rapier than I am with words...if there is anything I can do to make amends, I vow that I will do it." He offers a tentative smile. "An adventurer makes enemies enough; I'd rather we are friends."
Sasha looks a touch uncomfortable and even a bit embarrassed. "You never did anything to offend me. I just thought you were somebody you're not. I left Ilizmagorti in...in a nervous state. And now I have to wonder if I'm being punished for my decisions..." She pauses for a moment, then shakes her head. "No, I was just being paranoid, and it seems that resulted in you being just as paranoid about me. So I apologize for my treatment of you. You're right, we do need to work together if we're going to get off this horrid place." She offers him her hand.
Lorenz's smile broadens as he takes Sasha's hand and shakes it. "Trust me, I understand. I imagine leaving Ilizmagorti is a nerve-wracking experience for most people. And don't worry. We'll get off of this island. If I could get away from Ilizmagorti, then we can escape Smuggler's Shiv."
He looked over at her. "Besides. We've got many more adventures to have, don't we? This is just the beginning and someday, we'll look back and tell stories of the time we were shipwrecked on Smuggler's Shiv and survived to tell the tale." He grinned and turned to look back out into the night.
As morning dawns, you begin preparing yourselves for the day's exploration. Gelik is up bright and early, and spends quite some time grooming himself. Jask begins sorting food supplies to make certain both the explorers and those remaining at camp have something to eat during the day. Ishirou is his usual silent self. Sasha looks withdrawn this morning, quieter than usual and a definite look of sadness in her eyes.
However, Aerys is the most noticeable this morning. Upon waking, she immediately starts rifling through Urza's pack. "Where is it?" she demands. Not finding what she's looking for, she tosses the pack aside and goes for Lorenz's, screaming obscenities all the while.
"Eep," Douena squeaks, waving wildly for help. "You think we'd trust Lorenz to keep it?" she shouts at Aerys. "Makoa has it!" She points at the tusked half-orc.
Aerys glances at Douena with a "Pfft!" She then rushes for Lorenz's pack.
Night-time (watch time still)
Mahjik looks at Ishirou sitting quietly at watch. He smiles another polite nod at Ishirou, then his look turns much darker - with intent concentration - as he picks up a long stick, roughly the size and weight of the weapon that Ishirou carries.
He nestles the stick by his side, feet together head slightly bowed, the stick held at near-ready as he would a sheathed sword. His eyes are closed for a few seconds as he gathers fighting spirit and concentrates it into few but terribly swift and precise moves: a sudden drawing of the weapon and sweeping strike that is almost too fast to follow for an unprepared observer - after a moment this is followed by a series of powerful and accurate jabs, parries and swiping attacks. Finally Mahjik ends where he started, feet together and sword slowly sheathed. With a curt bow he finishes.
The performance lasts maybe 20 seconds, but it is clear that the intense concentration and precision take their toll as thick beads of sweat pearl along Mahjik's face.
Ishirou watches the display without any change of expression. When Mahjik finishes, he says, "Impressive, but worthless." He returns to watching the dark jungle.
Mahjik smiles at Ishirou's words and nods thoughtfully.
Somebody stop her before she ruins our supplies.
"Aerys, stop!" Gelik commands quite ineffectively.
Mahjik races with Aerys to reach the bag, then reaches inside pulling forth one of the magical potions that they found on the ship .
Lorenz, startled by Aerys sudden irrational actions, snatches up his pack and holds up his hand.
"What is all this? Haven't you been taught to keep out of other people's belongings?"
Mahjik races with Aerys to reach the bag, then reaches inside pulling forth one of the magical potions that they found on the ship .
1d20 + 7
Aerys raises her fist as if about to punch Lorenz, but holds herself back. She points at Urza. "He said there was...that you found...Oh, to hell with it! To hell with you all!"
She returns to where she was sleeping, lies down, curls up, and begins to sob.
Lorenz, relieved he wouldn't have to fight any of his companions, lowers his bag again.
"If it's going to be such a big deal," he said as he opened up his bag and pulled out the coffer with the coins, "we can split it up now. I just didn't consider it all that important since we don't have any way to spend any of it here. Sorry."
Despite her initial dislike for Aerys, Douena's compassion is aroused at seeing her in such a state. Approaching her gingerly, she kneels down behind her and reaches out to pet her hair. "Oh, poor pretty little elf girl," she croons. "I know you feel awful."
Aerys wipes tears away from her face and glares at Douena. "Pretty little elf girl? Pretty? What the hell do you know? Pretty's my curse. Get lost. Go explore the island and get yourself killed. The rest of us will die soon after."
If that's settled, let's get going. Urza seems eager to be away from here for a while.
When Aerys started acting like a madwoman, Aakif frowned and flexed his hands, stepping forward from his position on the opposite side of the camp. Fortunately, the situation was resolved without needing any physical measures; once Aerys crumpled and started to cry, Aakif hesitated, then turned back to his mount to finish currying and saddling the mare.
Aakif nods at Urza's suggestion and swings easily up into the saddle. Given the extreme heat of the jungle, he is unarmored, opting to leave his metal armor in the camp. His great falchion is still strapped to his back, however. "Yes. The sooner we leave, the more we can get done today. The more we get done, the closer we are to getting away from this place."
Mahjik approaches Sasha, his face showing some concern amidst the friendly expression. "You seem a little pale, are you not feeling well?"
"Let's get to it then, before the afternoon heat bares down on us again." Smiling towards Ishirou he adds: "Wise man judges a man's worth by his actions."
Lorenz, always slow to anger, felt himself getting a little irritated by Urza's dismissal of events. He shrugged it off, however, and nodded agreement with the others.
"Very well, we'll be off then. Is there anything in particular the rest of you would like us to watch out for?"
Douena shakes her head sadly at the prone half-elf. "Gelik," she tells the other gnome quietly as she passes by to join the others, "try and take her mind off it. Ishirou," she addresses the taciturn man, "looks like it'll be up to you to keep watch until we get back."
"I think she was after the liquor, not the gold. It may not be a bad idea for some of us to have a drink tonight with dinner."
"Beauty's a curse for you? Try having fangs that can rip through flesh and bone and carapace sticking out of your face. You think you're too pretty? Rub dirt on your face. But don't force your belief about our survivability on us."
Aakif snorts. "Fangs? Beauty? Try having the spirits of the dead follow you around trying to cause mischief and mayhem. Are we all going to air our personal insecurities and grievances, or are we going to try to do something about our situation?" Soulwind prances in place, clearly picking up on her master's irritation.
Sasha shrugs in response to Mahjik's question. "I've felt better," she says. "I spent too much time thinking last night. This whole situation is getting to me a bit. But don't worry, I'll be okay."
Gelik nods at Douena's request and says, "I'm not completely without sense, you know." Ishirou nods and says nothing.
Aerys just tries to hide herself away even more when Makoa and Aakif speak to her.
Jask wishes you all well as you prepare to head out. "Don't concern yourselves too much about us," he says. "We have a good position here, and while morale may be low, I think even Aerys will fight to protect herself should we come under attack. We'll be here when you get back this evening. Best of luck to you all, and take care!"
With that, you set off. You head back to the beach where you came ashore and then head along the west side of the cove. Because of the rocks, it's necessary to stay a little bit back from the coast line and head up to the cliff. You're able to avoid any strenuous climbs, though, and maintain gentle slopes most of the way until you reach the top.
Not far north of where the Jenivere was lodged into the rocks (there is no sign of the Jenivere anymore, by the way; it must have sunk completely), the coastline turns to the west as you exit the cove and see the long expanse of the sea to the north.
Your progress is somewhat slow, as the jungle reaches right to the edge of the cliff. Climbing down the cliff to the beach isn't an option because there is no beach, only rocks. And those rocks are being swallowed as the tide comes in.
It takes well over an hour, close to an hour and a half, to travel a mile. As you go, you begin to notice signs of a large predator in the area. Several shucked off snake skins point to a very big snake, being laired somewhere in the vicinity.
Douena has kept up a running conversation ever since the party got out of the hearing of those in the camp, mostly concerning Aerys and the misery all of them are in for as she goes through withdrawal. "Poor thing, I'd give her the brandy if it would do any good, but she's at the point now where it wouldn't make her happy if she had it, just keep her at the same level of unhappiness she was at on the Jenivere, and then she'd just be right back where she is now when she drank it all up. My brother-in-law has an inn back in Whistledown, and he had a trick he used to pull on some of his most 'frequent' customers...." She suddenly stops as an idea strikes her. "I wonder if that would work on Aerys. I can't do it, but I bet Gelik could."
Already sweating and sort of wishing he had the courage to leave his armor behind, Lorenz nodded agreeably. "I've seriously thought about giving her the brandy too. But you're right; it'd be gone in no time at all and then she'd be right back to where she started from. Is there no way to cure her of this dependence? What's this trick you're speaking of?"
He pauses as he catches sight of Urza. "And what sort of act of cruelty was it to tell the poor woman about the brandy? You may not like her, Urza, but we're all depending on each other to survive this. We have to make a better effort to get along or things will only continue to get worse."
As the group begins to find sign of a large snake, Lorenz slows. "Um, we might want to be careful. Snakes can be poisonous and this one looks awfully big." Looking nervously about, he fastens his shield onto his arm and puts his hand on the hilt of his rapier. "Gods, I hate snakes."
Makoa puts his shield on and draws one of his throwing axes, flipping it in his hand so he can test the grip. He continues moving, body tense, as he keeps an eye out for the snake...
Aakif bends down and whispers in his mount's ear, placing a soothing palm along the arch of her neck. "Soulwind may be able to warn us of its presence before we can see it." Nonetheless, he unsheathes his falchion.
Urza's clothes are designed for hot weather and serve him well in the day's heat. "You're right Lorenz. It was counter productive." Urza agrees, but you notice he does not apologize for doing it. "Who knew she would react so forcefully?" He keeps a sharp eye out for any snakes.
"Well, see," she says to Lorenz, "there were some people who would come into the tavern a little too regularly, if you know what I mean, and my brother-in-law would have to cut them off after a while. Of course, that just made them mad, and some of them used to break things, which cost my brother-in-law money. Well, one day he got the idea to use a little gnomish magic to take ordinary water and make it look and taste like ale. He kept charging them for drinks, and they were happy because they weren't getting cut off anymore. You should have seen them carry on, singing and laughing like they were getting drunk, when they were drinking water the whole time -- just because they thought they were drinking ale! If we could convince Aerys we were doling out a little bit of brandy at a time, the bluff might just be enough to get her through the rough part. What are we looking for?" she asks the rest of the party. "Snakes?"
At Douena's explanation of the trick, Lorenz considers silently for a moment before he shrugged. "It seems to me that could work either really well or be a complete disaster. I don't really know but I'd be hesitant about trying to trick her. If she figures out what you're up to, she'd lose what little trust she has in us."
"A wise tavern keeper I studied under, imparted to me the secrets of great liquor keeping. He said that watering down liquor with liquor allowed the quality to spread to a greater number of barrels - offering greater returns on investment. I think that perhaps this is a situation where the wisdom needs to be adjusted to the local situation. If, for example, we use fruit and coconut and water it down with liquor, we can make our reserves last longer." Mahjik is silent for a few moments, then proceeds: "Depending on our situation the amount of liquor can gradually be reduced to ween Aerys off, or the mixture can form the basis of fermentation which may lead to a sustainable liquor production."
Aakif has nothing to add to the discussion of liquor and drunks, so he remains silent and watchful.