Gair steps forward once again after Jaysin has spoken, "Such a mission is dangerous, I see no reason to turn down any volunteers. Yourself, Edmund and Vallen leave three. I mean to go and will vouch for the young warriors Bern and Kyle to fill the remaining spots...provided they are willing?", he raises a questioning eyebrow in their direction, inviting them to speak their assent.
I don't think we have to limit the number going to gather supplies and check on the "bitters" to just what will fit in one boat. Ben says then turns to his brother What do you think Walt? You up for a little adventure?
Gair seems to come to a decision in his mind, "If our council is to lead effectively we will need to know as much as we can about those in our care. Sorala's appointed task of record keeper makes her an ideal person to help keep us all appraised. I would welcome her voice in our meetings and her wisdom guiding our decisions."
Third is Ben Sandlock, from the moment we set foot in these new lands he has tirelessly worked to improve our situation. He was one of the first to join our scouting party and insisted that we go in search of survivors of the Harpy, leaving his family behind to help others. He has fearlessly charged savages bent on eating us and killed ants that could swallow him whole. He truly should inspire all of us to strive for more."
You make me sound like some kind of hero Kal'Tos. In my defense I want to say that I didn't know the savage wanted to eat us at the time, and the ants were dragging away the first fresh meat I had seen since leaving Absalom. You know how halflings are about food. . . . If the people of this community want me on this council then I will be glad serve them in that capacity. I have a daughter, and I have the same fears, for her sake, that many of you do. Most of us came here hoping for a chance to build something better than we had in Avistan. We have had a few setbacks since then, but I believe we can still realize the dreams that brought us here in the first place if we all work together.
Sorala, startled, rises to her feet. "Thank you, Gair. I am honored with the nomination and I'd be thrilled to serve Newspring at any council meetings. I'll do my best to represent and record the wishes of us all."
Quickly, she sits down, blushing but visibly pleased.
Bern and Kyle are willing. From the whoops and war dances they do, it seems they are willing to leave immediately.
Walt shakes his head in dismay but sighs.
"'There'll be better fishing across the ocean,' you said," he grumbles. "Now you want me to sail against a bunch of shark-faced cannibals. You get Shalla to go along and I'll go to the cave, but I'm not going on any raids."
Edmund grins as he sees the group forming up.
"We'll leave tomorrow, then," he says. "But I would ask those of you on the council who are coming to give the others your support. Those of us who are chosen to lead must either trust in those who stay behind, or remain themselves. We will be gone a week or more, and the others shouldn't have their hands tied."
Manari considers Jaysin and then nods.
"I owe the sharkteeth a few deaths," she says. "For the most part, though, I intend to stay here, in Newspring. And yes, I give the council my support on any decisions they make while we're gone."
Gair smiles back at Edmund, "A council must act to be effective, at the moots of my homeland, those who are delayed and cannot make the summons must abide by the decisions of those who do. I will do much the same here. I have faith in each of our remaining councilors or I would have stood against you. I know you will do well by Newspring in our absence."
After the meeting, Istiel wishes Manari a safe journey, and to avenge any of their brothers and sisters that were taken by the shark-teeth. As much as she wishes to guard the elven wizard, some must stay in Newspring to gather food and guard the villagers.
After the meeting has concluded, Vallen approaches Jaysin. "Jaysin, was it? I am Vallen Silverclasp, a craftsdwarf and a servant of Torag." He gives a small bow of his head. "I notced your leg was injured... if you wish, I can heal you with divine power. Your bravery should be rewarded, and if you are coming with us, you should be in top form."
If Jaysin accepts, Vallen channels Diagonse Disease into Cure Light wounds.
When the meeting is finished, the dwarf excitedly collects his statuette from his camp's chest, and finds Sorala. Clearing his throat, he presents the statue of Garrak to her with a smile. "I enjoy making statues of things on material plane, for they often come and go more quickly than we'd like. But stone, stone endures, Sorala. Keep this for remembrance."
The statue is a hand tall and carved from limestone, finely polished and intricately detailed. The statue has a flat base with the name Garrak carved into the side, facing forward with the figure it is paying homage to. Garrak sits on a stump, dressed in the only outfit the dwarf ever saw him wear. He leans forward intently, one hand reading a book, the title of which was intentionally left blank, and the other rests easily on the shaft of a greataxe, the blade resting on the stump.
"I wish I had better materials, and more time, of course, there is always more time needed for figures like this..."
Day 9 Gozran 10
Vallen wakes up after a good night of sleep, the first in a while without any nightmares. Excited about the prospect of their salvaging operation he packs his belongings and holds morning prayer for the dwarves in a most jubilant manner. While preferring the comforts of civilization, the prospect of taking apart the Harpy and building things out of it has him ignoring the whole sharkteeth situation, and the fact he's going to possibly be in a pitched battle.
The priest speaks to Horn'tos about plans for the forge, loans him his holy text as a guide (Surely Torag sees the need!), and asks him to give the next ant-shield that he constructs to Hassan. Wishing his brother in steel luck, Vallen says his goodbyes to Jarla and informs her they will return soon with good news and many construction materials.
He meets the involved parties on the beach, hopping in the boat after only a moment's deliberation.
Day 9, Gozran 10
The sun rises into a clear sky with just a few wispy clouds high up. It's cold in the shadow of the trees, but warming quickly. Within minutes of the dawn, Bern and Kyle are at the boats, armed and ready to set off.
A while later, Manari appears, her longbow unstrung, worn over her shoulder, and a quiver of arrows on her other shoulder. Her pack is heavy, with a spellbook and other supplies. Jaysin follows in her footsteps, carrying a wooden cudgel, and a short while later, the Thayers appear, Edmund wearing his sword, carrying his chainmail in a waterproof chest. Sandra hangs back, apparently intending to watch the group depart.
Last to appear is Walton, a grim look on his face as he makes a show of checking the boat and stowing everything that can be stowed. When he can't delay any longer, he directs the bigger folk as they drag the boat into the water, and he hops aboard at the last moment before it floats.
Day 9, Gozran 10
Gair wakes to find Bern's furs empty, repacking his bedroll he scans the nearby vicinity and spots his son sparring with Kyle not far from the treeline. Smiling to himself he makes his way to the stream's runoff to wash the sleep from his eyes. All young warriors are alike, he'll find his patience one day.
Cleansed and fed Gair rounds up the two young men, "You keep at it you'll have to walk to this cave. Grab your gear quickly, we should meet the others at the beach."
A short time later he leads the pair of them down to the beach with food packed and weapons worn. He nods to Vallen and then the others in turn, "It is a good day for such a journey. Hopefully the waters will remain calm."
With only the barest hint of hesitation he climbs into Walton's boat and settles himself as low as he can.
A little while before the boats are loaded and ready to leave, a young Tien woman with a long braid down her back appears at the beach. She was part of the Harpy's crew, and she took a nasty wound which kept her from sailing on the Lillend.
"I'm no fighter," she says. "But I hear you're giving away boats to those who can sail them." She shoots a wink. "Truth is, I'd like to stick it to those shark-faced bastids any way I can, and if that means helping you all sail back to the cave, then I guess that's what I'd better do. I'm not a bad fisherwoman either, if you must know, so maybe we can put both boats to use, when you high-and-mighties aren't needing them."
"Sai?" Jaysin says, with a bit of a smile. "You're well?"
"Well enough to follow them up the coast," she smiles back. "Don't get bit this time, k?"
Sia was it? Ben asks the Tien woman as he offers his hand Nice to meet you.
So you know how to sail and fish? That is great! You help us pull this little trick off, and I will do my best to get you the same deal I got my brother. Control of a boat until you can get your own built. It will be good to have both boats being utilized.
Ben joins his brother in the second boat. When they are underway he goes and sits down in the stern next to his brother. Alright Walton. He says in a low voice. Let's have it what's eating you?
Hassan comes down to the beach to see two boats off. He says little but wishes all a safe journey and a swift return.
He watches the boats sail away for near half an hour, scratching idly at his scar before turning back to Newspring. The keleshite man is on edge all morning having just watched easily half of Newspring's best prepared defenders sail away to uncertain fates.
He does his best to keep his doubts from showing as he finds Istiel and Sorala, "Excuse me ladies, I wanted to have a word with you. What are we going to do about these little Dragons we encountered yesterday? Shall we try enticing them again? ...or simply leave them a gift in good faith for now?"
Hassan finds Istiel stringing her bow as she prepares for a hunting trip. The elf looks up as he approaches, but does not look up again. "The ມັງກອນພຽງເລັກນ້ອຍ do not like me. Their dialect is also incomprehensible to me. We should wait for Manari to return, first. Also. I caution against leaving food out. It may attract more than little dragons."
She stands, face impassive, looking Hassan eye to eye. "If you need me, come find me. Many of our warriors left today. I pray the days until their return are as beautiful as this one."
Eyes moist, she throws her arms around Vallen and hugs him for a time that surely makes the dwarf uncomfortable. Sorala then pats Vallen on the cheek, wordlessly takes the statue, and heads towards her sleeping area, where she gazes as the statue and silently cries, and laughs, remembering Garrack, and eventually slips into a soundless, dreamless, dark sleep.
Day 9, Gozran 10
Sorala wakes and takes the statue down to the beach, sitting off a ways and watching the salvagers depart, waving goodbye as they set off. Then she heads up to camp, grabs some smoked eel for breakfast, and hunts around for two large rocks and a sizable log. Straining and grunting, she rolls the rocks to nearby the spring, and then drags the log over and pushes it up on top of the rocks, and sitting crosslegged, is delighted to find that she can just squeeze her skinny legs under the log. Taking her quill and a piece of parchment, the half-elven woman writes the words, Census and below it Lorekeeper, and weighting it down with a smaller rock, hanging over the log, she waits, and eventually people approach and she starts recording; names, the jobs they had back east, and any other information the people of Newspring wish to share. She takes down a delicious sounding recipe for squirrel pie and a bawdy story told by Zik's father, and about mid-afternoon, wraps up, taking the statue and her writing implements back to her sleeping area.
Next, Sorala grabs a quick bite, never having seen food as much more than fuel, and takes it into the nearby forest with another quill and a blank book, and her club, and begins drawing and describing the local flora and fauna.
Hassan finds Istiel stringing her bow as she prepares for a hunting trip. The elf looks up as he approaches, but does not look up again. "The ມັງກອນພຽງເລັກນ້ອຍ do not like me. Their dialect is also incomprehensible to me. We should wait for Manari to return, first. Also. I caution against leaving food out. It may attract more than little dragons."
Sorala shrugs. "Hassan, I speak six languages. Unfortunately none of them are anything like what those little serpents speak. I'm happy to accompany you, however."
Later, after drawing in the woods, Sorala approaches Istiel, and showing the elf her book, says, "Istiel, I've been drawing some of the trees, grasses, animals, and such around the camp. I hate to presume, but could you identify any of these? Especially the plants - I'm pretty sure that's a hare."
Cueta wakes early and heads down to the beach, enjoying the methodical intonations of the dwarf priest until she heads out of earshot, lugging her tools and weapons with her. At the beach, she inspects the boat that she will be piloting, and then heads back up to Newspring for a breakfast of raw fish and groundnuts. Sucking the eye out of a river trout's head, she takes in the cool morning, then goes over to Deeshka and gently wakes the sleeping halfing.
"Dear Deeshka, I leave soon. Please take care of Watcher. He's a good dog, and he'll stay close, and he'll guard you if anything happens. I look forward to hearing of your adventures here at camp when we get back."
Kissing both Deeshka and Watcher on the head, she heads back down to the beach and runs into the Tian woman. "Nice to meet you Sia. This will be your boat, probably. I'm sure you'll be safe with her, but if you don't mind, I'd like to steer this morning. It's been a few days since I've been on the water, and I miss it."
Pushing off, Cueta takes a deep breath, enjoying the strong, salty smell that tickles her brain. She takes in the terns and the gulls circling lazily in the morning sun, and the cranes wading in the nearby marshland, and avoids thinking of the fight to come.
The dwarf is completely caught off guard by her hug, and he is unsure what to do. "Uh... uh... uhhh.. You're welcome. Umm... Ahem... well... glad you.. like it.. Yes." When she finally lets go he clears his throat and wishes her a good night, stiffly and rapidly escaping. People have told me they've liked my work before, but that was ridiculous!
Vallen ends up in Walton's boat with Gair, always feeling safer around the Kellid ever since he witnessed the man cleave the skin-stealers skull in two. As they push off he furrows his brow. "Hm... I should have really brought something to do. I suppose we don't have time for me to grab some limestone real quick? I could make a carving of the boat! Oh, oh, I could carve the boat! Walton! Tell me, you wouldn't happen to want any decorations on your boat...? The dwarf grins, light blues eyes already seizing up the mast and imagining patterns. The prospect of sitting still on this trip is not feasible to him.
Sorala finds Istiel coming back from the hunt, a pheasant and a few hares from her traps slung over her shoulder. The elf's thin brows raise slightly as the half-breed approaches, waving a book in her face.
Looking at the book, she takes a moment to look over the pictures.
"I am no ranger, Sorala, but many of these are common plants. Come. We will speak while I skin these. And yes," The elf lowers her shoulder to let the hare flop down. "That is a hare. A rather furry one."
While Istiel prepares her quarry, she glances at Sorala's book, assisting her in identifying common and uncommon flora and fauna. She gives both the Common and Elven names, simply because she knows the woman will appreciate it.
Vallen, if you need to carve something you can carve on the oars. Ben calls from his seat by Walton Just make sure you don't make them unusable.
Gair smirks at Vallen, equally content with the dwarf's company. Reaching into his pack he unrolls his collection of fletcher's tools, you notice what looks like a half finished bow stave laying next to Gair's axe in the bottom of the boat, "I came to the conclusion there would be a lot of sitting involved in this trip and I'd rather not watch the water..."
"It's SAI, you 粗魯的東西," the woman says good-naturedly, settling back on a bench and closing her eyes, happy to let Cueta drive.
The little halfling looks at his brother and shakes his head. "What's my problem? Besides skin-stealers, shark-faces, shipwrecks, dragons and the fact that instead of fishing to try to feed my family, I'm sailing off to face some horrible monsters? I'm hungry, there's no pipeweed, there's no proper ale. I'm taking you on your mission. You don't like my mood, I'm happy to stay behind."
"Go ahead and carve something on the prow if you want," he says to Vallen. [/b]"Just try not to put a hole in the bottom."[/b]
Istiel knows the plants Sorala is looking for, and can make knowledge: nature rolls to gather materials for alchemical items rather than foraging of she wishes.
The first day passes uneventfully as the boats sail easily across the bay (C-16) and reach the long point that defines the mouth of the bay in late afternoon.
In Newspring, however, things are afoot. (who's actively on guard duty?)
Hassan is walking the perimeter of the camp when one of the foraging parties comes out of the woods, half-running, half-creeping in that awkward way that isn't much quieter or faster than walking. The head of the party, a Chelish farmer named Vada Medeo who knows enough of woodcraft points behind them.
"By the stream," he whispers. "Bears."
The dwarf gets pretty excited at the thought of carving the prow, but tempers his excitement with practicality. "I should practice on the oars first. It's been quite some time I've carved wood. Kynack wouldn't let me decorate his ship after I carved his visage on a rum barrel, sadly. Besides, I don't want to be hanging off the thing while we're traveling."
The dwarf curiously looks at Gair's bowcraft, not making heads or tails of it. "Huh. Very interesting. I should have brought alon some limestone, but it takes a while to get some good blocks. Probably shouldn't weigh down the boat, anyway."
Vallen spends the day carving sweeping patterns across the oars, careful not to ruin their functionality. He decides to stick to the local motif and carves great, crashing waves slamming into the side of a cliff into the paddles.
Hassan slips a hand to his sword hilt, his eyes hard and alert as they focus on Vada, "How many? Did they take note of your presence?"
Spotting Istiel not far away, he looks past the chelish man to two of his party, directing each of them to fetch one of the two soldiers currently on guard duty, "Run, quickly now!"
He is already moving towards Istiel by the time they leave, forcing Vada to follow in order to answer Hassan's questions.
Kal'Tos spends most of the day in quiet contemplation.
Septimus sees a chance to take a break from hauling logs around when he hears the commotion.
He grabs his quarterstaff from nearby where it was laying and heads towards Hassan.
"you may be in need of a healer, I don't possess the skills or level of divine blessing that Vallen has, but I can keep people alive when needed."
Hassan nods as Septimus joins them as he reaches Istiel and fills her in on the situation, "May it pass that we have more need of your quarterstaff than your healing skills but it is good to be prepared."
"with some luck my simple magics will affect the simple minds of bears. I may be able to temporarily remove one from the fight."
Ben rubs his a hand across his eyes before answering his brother. Walton, You are not going to face any horrible monsters. All you are going to do is sail this boat out there and then come back with a load of supplies that will make feeding, clothing, and sheltering your family a whole hell of a lot easier. This is no different than what you did everyday back in Absalom and no more dangerous. Besides that this will give you a chance to get used to the boat, and look for good spots to fish. Ben digs in his pack an pulls out his bundle of halfling rations. Here, there are some oat cakes and black sausages in there. For the pipeweed check with Hobie and Val when you get back, they may have some. Mom did always tell you that was a filthy habit. As for Ale, I can gaurantee these dwarves are missing it more than you. Ale is like bread to dwarves. Now show me how to pilot this thing so you don't have to come on trips like this anymore.
Newspring:
Hassan leads the party into the forest in the direction Vada pointed. They quickly reach the banks of one of the larger streams that flow down from the northern hills. About 100 yards upstream you see a large bear, maybe 6' long, weighing maybe 150 lbs, and a pair of smaller bears, maybe 3' long and 50 lbs. They are feeding in the thick brush that grows along the banks of the stream.
Shipboard:
"You say I'm not going to face any horrible monsters," Walton grumbles. "But I heard what happened to the folks on the Harpy, too. I was at the meeting, you know. We didn't bring almost all the place's heavily armed warriors just to help carry stuff down from a cave."
Hassan frowns and turns to Istiel "A mother and her cubs no?"
Istiel looks at Hassan with concern as he mentions bears, following him into the woods with her bow strung and an arrow in hand. She casually leans up against a tree, staring at the bears for a few moments.
Istiel watches the bears for a few moments. Despite their brownish color, she identifies them as black bears, presumably a mother and cubs.
The elf, seeing no danger at the moment, slides an arrow back in her quiver and puts her shortbow over her shoulder. "Black bears. A mother and cubs. Do you wish to hunt them? We will need overwhelming force. This will either scare them away, or we can eat well tonight. The cubs will run. The mother will fight ferociously. I defer to you; we will need your soldiers. I can gather my brothers and sisters. Be warned... these are strong creatures, and we have no proper pikes or spears."
Hassan consider for a moment, "I'd sooner scare them off but the mother is too unpredictable to leave roaming the same woods as our foragers. We will have to force a confrontation. The cubs may run but without their mother both are like enough to die. Could we capture them perhaps? Septimus claims to be able to put one or more to sleep. Try for the cubs and then deal with the mother?"
He looks back at the two soldier's with them, "Either way she is correct. Quickly now, return to camp and bring the others of the watch with gear ready."
"Istiel, if you would go with them and rally your brothers and sisters as you suggest?"
The elf nods, moving from the tree. "We hunt. I shall return shortly. Do not worry about the cubs. They will survive, or they will not. Let Desna decide."
Istiel jogs back to the camp, calling out in Elven "Istiel আমাদের নম প্রয়োজন হয়, কল!"
She explains the situation to the elves she is able to gather, and tells them she plans to hunt the bear from the trees. She does not force any of her kin to go- if they do not wish to attend, so be it.
Before long, the soldiers return with the three remaining elves and the rest of the soldiers.
Hassan shrugs, "I'm sure the gods have better things to think about. They will live or do by our actions."
As the others gather he speaks to them all, "Right. We should approach from all sides, three pairs to hem the in. Keep your distance though. At 50ft Septimus can attempt to enchant them. Istiel, you and your brethren pick a good vantage. If the mother remains standing after Septimus' efforts it will be up to you to bring her down before she can wreak too much havok among us. Agreed?"
Breathing heavily, Istiel returns. She looks over the area. "We are ready. My brothers and sisters will take to the trees and fire on the bear from above. Let us approach to 50 yards, set up, and begin. Make the bear come to us, Hassan. Shout at it. Give us the signal after Septimus has cast his spell."
When they are in position, Istiel rapidly climbs 10 feet up a tree and leans against it. She tells the elves to ready their bows, and fire on the creature at Hassan's signal.
Your right we didn't bring all these warriors just to pick up the supplies. They are coming partly to make sure we are safe while picking up supplies and after we finish that I am probably going with them and you will be sailing back to Newspring. The Shark-teethed creatures they talked about at the meeting are a danger to Newspring. We are going to try to see what we can find out about them. The plan is for you to be on your way back home before we try. Ben says to his brother trying to calm his fears.
Septimus casts sleep centred on the mother. "Hopefully this works."