"Just a couple questions, Lilican. First, the more practical: Have any of your girls been effective against this enemy? Is there anything you can tell us that might prove helpful?
Secondly, but no less important: Will we become slaves as well? We've heard bad things about the villages in this jungle." Jivaji tries not to look at Levi as he says this.
Lilica listens to Jivaji's qustions. "Yeah, all em shaman ladies are effective. They dun made some funky powder stuff dat w'all put on er weapons ta make'em hurt these unmdead varmints. Without dat stuff, well we might as well be hackin wit sticks an stuff. I'll see if the spell folks willin ta give up some of deir secret brew fer y'all ta use. Ya jest sprinkle it on yer weapons an start swingin fer the fences. Garenteed ta hurt da little bastards fer sure." She laughs at the questions on slaves. "What? Ain't none of y'all wanna be ma personal man servant? Am I dat ugly? Come on now. It ain't all dat bad. I mean. It ain't any diff'nt en bein married right? Heheheh, I'm just messin wich y'all. Ain't gonna be any slave makin outta any of ya. So longs as ya keep yer promise an help us with dis here problem. Or if ya decide ta ditch us, den just don't come back. Simple as dat. Now, what else can I do y'all for?" She waits to see if any of you have any other questions. It is easy to tell at this point that she seems to like you all a whole lot better than any of her comrades do.
As soon as all the Amazons leave, Tam sinks to the floor with a contented sigh. "Joe, all I can say is you made the wrong choice, my friend. Jungle living agrees with these women in a big way. A big, happily jiggling way. I can die happy now."
Joe looks at the halfling, a smile on his face, "I know, little buddy. I know." He shrugs.
"Don't you worry none now, you hear?" He tells Lilica. "We ain't for ditchin' no one. We're gonna fix this walkin' dead critter problem of y'alls, sure as shootin'!" He smiles real big. "Now you go on and get some shuteye. We don't wanna keep ya up all night. I sure appreciate all ya done for us already. Go on and get some good ol' rest and come the mornin', you'll find us here ready to hunt us some walkin' dead critters! Whooo!" He can't but help be excited at the thought of all the fun.
Jivaji cannot help but be somewhat uplifted by Joe's infectious enthusiasm. Smiling, he adds "Lilica, that powder would be wonderful. Anything you could give us would be a great help to everyone."
Silent perks up at mention of the helpful powder, nodding his appreciation for the offer. Since the excitable little halfling seems taken care of for now, Silent spends quite some time checking out their living area, making sure there are no dangers hidden there-in. He also takes a look around to see if it can be made more defensible - in case of any attacks.
Never can be too careful... this whole place has been one big ambush.
Lilica bids you all farewell for the evening and moves on. Silent searches everything expecting traps but from the looks of things, everything is fine.
If you go to bed for the evening you wake up the next day to a bell ringing. Lilica stands in your quarters with a cowbell in her hand. "Up an attem y'all. Got yer selves some monster slayin ta do. An I gots some breakfast fer y'all. Sizzlin Boar strips, eggs, and some of our best mead. Original recipe by yers truly. Now eat up an get ta plannin. I'm gonna sit right over 'ere an keep watch. Iffin ya have any questions, jest ask me." With that Lilica sets down the spread of food before you. She dismisses her helpers and takes a seat in the corner and begins to eat her own meal.
Joe, waking up with the dawn and anxious like a kid on Christmas for the new day, smiles real big as he takes a deep breath of the food Lilica brought. "Ooooh weeeee! That shor' smells good! Mmmmm-mmmmm! Time to get to the grub!" He then digs in. "I 'preciate this, Lilica." He says with a mouth full of food and quite clearly as if it's a natural born talent. "Mighty nice of ya!"
Tam yawns, stretches and blinks at the smell of food. This is the first night since he's fled that he can remember sleeping through the night without a watch or the nightmares. He moves slowly, heading over to the food and helping himself, nodding his thanks at Lilica.
Jivaji's glossy eyes seems to light up at the offering. "Truly your hospitality is appreciated." Jivaji prepares himself a helping of the breakfast, and also prepares a helping for Levi. "Tell me, Lilica. I am very confused, " Jivaji says between bites "I understand that the villagers here have ample reason to be paranoid of outsiders. But we have been treated fairly well, considering."
Jivaji pauses momentarily to pause, but also to compose himself for an uncomfortable question "So I have to wonder, why are all the men imprisoned here? We only saw one man as we came into town, and he was chained up, being led behind someone."
"Please understand, I do not pass judgement, I just wish to know what we should expect."
Silent attacks the food with the same abandon that he fights, eating twice as much as you would have thought possible. When Mac goes on about its tastiness, he lifts his eyes just long enough to nod his agreement before diving back into the plate.
Finally he pushes back his plate, bowl, cup, and utensils, using his hands as a napkin… which he then wipes on his pants.
Eltumal eats hastily, pulling his hair back into place once he has finished.
"Lilica, you wouldn't happen to know if we could get some of the powder used against these things, would you? If so, that would be very helpful. I would also like to inquire as to the composition of said powder, if that's not too much to ask."
Lilica laughs at Joe. "You just eat yer fill now y'hear."
At Jivaji she nods. "Well that there is a bit of a story sugar. Ya see. In these here jungles in another tribe run by men they call themselves the Garansi. Centuries ago they were a a large tribe but they were all run by men. Not just any men, were talkin dominatin kind of men. The kind who believed women were nothin more than a pleasure toys and a breeding tools. It was real bad. Like it is now sept men were in charge. Suddenly Adaime and her clan of Drow flee into the tribe after they're people were slaughtered by Mormont's first wave of aggression. She sought refuge but instead got enslaved. It wasn't long after that when she incited rebellion. The the tribe of Garansi was split in two and now we the women dwell on this side of the river and the men dwell on the other. On that side of the river, things are the opposite as they are here. I am not particularly happy that Adaime feels the need to take up Garansi's behavior. I get tired of seeing men treated this way. It's just how things are around here. I am taking great risks to treat you right."
At Eltumal's question Lilica snaps her fingers. "Right I plum fergot. I dun brought y'all two barrels of our own stash. Ya have apply it afta each successful stroke. This stuff hurts all matter of dead people and do some extra bit of damage too. Hope y'all enjoy da stuff. So what's yer first plan of action?"
Joe looks around at the others; seeing no one pipe up he pours in his own thoughts. "Well, the way I figur', we go on in, kill all these dead-who-ain't-dead fellas, then kill whatever it is that's the cause of all of 'em, and mosey on back here at lunch time! Whooo! It don't get much easier'n that!" He says as he gobbles down some more food.
"Are you suggesting we just head off into the woods Mac, like a ship adrift at sea with out setting some sort of course? Foolish." Nye shakes the keg with his ear near the spout trying to guess how much longer the ale will last. He takes a big gulp and continues, "I don't care much for being here, we should have headed to the sea and gotten off this cursed land, but here we are. If we are going to be doing this I think we need some better plan. A map of the area would be nice and then we could mark off areas as we search through them."
Jivaji looks genuinely surprised at the logical suggestion from the usually belligerent mage. "Yes, that's a terrific idea. I feel we should also make our first stop at the caravan to the south. Lilica, i sit possible someone in the village could scribe for us a somewhat crude map of the areas of interest?"
"Are you suggesting we just head off into the woods Mac, like a ship adrift at sea with out setting some sort of course? Foolish." Nye shakes the keg with his ear near the spout trying to guess how much longer the ale will last. He takes a big gulp and continues, "I don't care much for being here, we should have headed to the sea and gotten off this cursed land, but here we are. If we are going to be doing this I think we need some better plan. A map of the area would be nice and then we could mark off areas as we search through them."
Joe turns to Nye as he speaks and then a big Joe smile forms when he's done speaking. Slapping Nye on the back, he returns to his breakfast so as to finish it up, still smiling.
By the way, Levi is still tied up and sleeping oddly peacefully.
"Nah deary, none of us dun been able ta get far enough from the village to tell ya what is all out there but we can point out some locations iffin y'all got a map or map maker of yer own."
Are you guys waiting on me for something? Cause I'm waiting on you.
"Well, if I had to guess from the deafening silence that has lingered since that question, I would venture to say that we have no map-makers. If everyone is finished with breakfast, we might as well get going. I'm sure that the next few days will prove quite interesting."
Silent finishes eating, then nods at Jivaji's suggestion. As everyone prepares to leave, he switches out his bag and pack for the higher quality backpack salvaged from their fallen ally's body. On top of all his old gear, he drops two of the healing potions in as well.
Once his new pack is settled on his broad shoulders, he signs to those that understand.
"What are we going to do with Levi? He obviously can't stay here, but I'm not sure he's going to be of any assistance out in the field."
"Silent wants to change. He can move faster, and is generally going to be stronger that way."
Silent nods in the direction where the local girl left.
Do you think it wise to leave him here? We may find him enslaved when we come back. Or perhaps driven mad. At the very least, we can untie him and ask
Jivaji begins to untie and ungag Levi. "Be calm, my friend. Please do not shout. I am sorry that we had to tie you up, but you were quite inconsolable" Once untied, Jivaji asks "So, Levi. We must leave the village and go into the jungle again. Do you wish to stay here or accompany us? You know quit well what dangers lie out there, so choose wisely."
Nye swigs another small sip of ale, trying to make what's left last. He looks at Jivaji untying Levi and a hazy memory dances around the center of his brain.
"Hey, didn't you have a big old map case when we first bumped into you?" He asks the halfling.
Levi seems freakishly peaceful considering his outburst yesterday and how he has been treated since. He has a frightening smile on his face as he looks at the ceiling. "I am a pretty butterfly. Life is so simple and easy. I love to roam and explore and love to draw and color. I am as happy as can be for I am a sweet little bumble be and that is really good for me. Eeheheheee." He speaks this nonsense with such melancholy that you wouldn't put it past him to be on drugs.
At Jivaji's question Levi smiles at him. "What a pretty birdy you are. Your soft feathers makes me happy." A nice quite easy tone for a madman.
At Nye's question about maps Levi perks up. "Maps!? Maps!? Yes Levi loves maps. Making maps all my life I have. The maps I have here are of the entire region imprisioned by fog. Used to be a Horizon Walker I was. Loved exploring and making maps. Now....I can't escape. Fog is everywhere. I won't let me leave. Necromancer is behind it. How else do we explain all the undead? Yes many places he could hide but I'm not strong enough to adventure to them alone. Now I wander hoping to find my way out." Levi suddenly starts getting the shakes. "Never get out, never get out, never get out, never get out, never get out, never get out, never get out, never get out, never get out....." He continues to say the same thing over and over and over again. He is now curled in the fetal position. You can push him for more info if you want or you can simply take his map case.
Tam will very slowly step forward and take the map from the drugged halfling. "Poor thing. He's gone a bit mad in here, hasn't he?"
Levi does not stop you from taking his case. Rather he simply stares at the ceiling muttering the same phrase over and over. In the case you find three maps. One of the region Mormont took over. Another of what looks to be a mountain valley with some settlements in it. The third shows a sort of jungle region with a white haze that says "fog maze" entrapping the region. After observing the map a bit you see one settlement that states "Amazon Village". To the west of it you see "Spider's nest" To the southwest about a day and a half you see "Ruined caravan and Stegasaur nest" in the same spot. further southwest about two and a half days from where you are, across a river you see what looks like a city of some sort. The map says "Ruins of ancient city. Possibly home to vampire family" There are three points of interest within the city but no description as to what they are. Then about two days due south of the Amazon village is a place noted as "Kobald Hermit". Another day further south from that point is another "Strange Scary Cave" About near to a day trek west of the second POI is mark "Gypsy/Refugee Caravan Village" There are several other POIs on the map and about three other villages. Due west about five days travel is the rival village to the amazons. A couple of days south of that is the Kobald tribe, and another five days from there is a Lizard folk tribe.
"Well alright! We got us some places to go! Whooo!" Joe then gathers his pack and throws it over his shoulder. "Alright, I'm ready! No sense in sittin' 'round here no longer. Let's go kill us some dead critters!" He says with a big Joe smile as he waits for the others to grab their gear.
Silent, already packed up and ready, nods.
Reading Silent's hand gestures, and nodding. "We should definitely go to the caravan first and try some trading. We may find something else to help us in our task."
Do you guys want to go straight to the caravan village or visit some of the Points of interest along the way. The following are along the way:
Steg nest and ruined caravan
Kobald Hermit
Scary Cave.
Visit any of these are go straight to the village?
The adventure starts at last. You all begin for the south. You travel for a good part of the day. Night falls and you will need to hunt for food or make do with rations. You are undisturbed during the night as you set three watches in groups of two. The next day you make your way to the part on the map that says "Ruined Caravan and Steg Nest." Just as the name suggests. The place has three unlooted wagons. Also, again as the name suggests, there are three stegasaurs in the area and a couple of nests. Again, the wagons look untouched.
You notice faint glows from within the wagons, there are magic items to be had in there.
You know Stegasaurs are really tough and dangerous. They are also quite territorial when their nests are threatened.
"Stegasauri are very territorial, and incredibly tough. We need to stay well away from their nests if we can help it. In fact, I'm fairly certain that's what happened to this caravan here."
Nodding, Jivaji adds "I had heard of these beasts. We should be careful. Let me see if there has been any activity recently."
Jivaji begins inspecting the markings and footprints.
"Dosn't seem to be any dangerous magic around here...I suppose we should be thankful for that. I wonder if those wagons have any supplies we can use." Hoping he might find a store of stout, ale, or spirits to replenish his dwindling stash of beer, Nye heads towards the wagons.
@Eltumal: That is fine, I will allow it.
@Nye: You just waltzing right through the nest to the wagons?
"I'm curious as to what's in those wagons, but I fear if we try to get close, we may be discovered."
Eltumal will try to circle around the right side to see if there are any blind spots for the nests.