In Newspring, work is delayed some as the aftermath of the storm is felt, repairing what was damaged, recovering what was lost, and wondering how the rest of the group fares.
Ingwe makes a plea to the spirits to help them, and several people follow him to the beach where he burns offerings (mostly inedible remains of small animals) and explains that the smoke will carry their prayers to the spirits. Deeshka watches closely, and spends the rest of the day visiting with various Sandlocks. Tatya leads the children down to the place where the pseudodragons were last seen, and when they return, they announce that the small creatures have returned.
The explorers wake after a restful night to a mild, clear day. A little after they set off, they see the canoe where it had been in the next cove.
Vallen wakes, rubbing a hand over his face slowly. The Kuru whose mouth was smashed in by the sharpstone was grinning at him all night in his dreams, his broken teeth and blood-stained face always there, watching.
The priest approaches Kal'tos and request they hold their prayers together, beseeching their gods to watch over specific facets of their journey instead of the usual general prayers. Vallen prays to Torag that their plans are not delayed any further, and if any surprises arise they allow time for careful scrutiny.
He volunteers to help row the canoe- the battle yesterday reminded him he should do more to build up his strength. His time on Lillend was devoid of smithing or his usual laborious duties.
Hassan has a fairly calm day, they air is filled with the scent of recent rain but the sun is shining and the day warm.
When Tatya returns to inform them that the small dragons have returned, Hassan sends a runner to fetch Istiel, Sorala and Septimus.
Hopefully the other two are around but he is most perplexed when informed that Istiel is not at her post and was in fact seen leaving the village not long ago.
Sending for one of the off duty soldiers to take her place, he looks to Sorala, Septimus and any others who were drawn by the news of the dragons, "Well at least we've not driven them away for good. Should we take them an offering of food again? Without Istiel or Manari I doubt we can talk to them but simply leaving the food might nurture some good faith in future?"
The elf in question emerges from the forest, a deer fawn slung around her shoulders. She passes by the gathering as she makes her way to the makeshift cleaning stands, giving Hassan a questioning look.
When informed of the situation, she shakes her head. "No, wait for Manari's return. The dragons do not like me. Leaving food out might attract less friendly creatures, as well."
Hassan puts all thoughts of the dragons out of his mind, advancing until he is next to the elf, "Where have you been Istiel? You were supposed to be watching the north end of camp!"
Kal'Tos agrees to pray with Vallen, asking that Abadar's bounty be upon them.
A thin eyebrow shoots up at Hassan as he advances on her. She looks at him impassively with her large hazel eyes. "I guarded the foragers this morning, then went hunting afterwards." The elf shows him the fawn, its white spots marred with thick, dried blood. "I had a suspicion the hunting would be better at dusk."
While prayers are said and the first part of the day is spent rowing to the next beach, Cueta roughs out her statues, taking her planes and chisels and working down a couple of large pieces of driftwood, one about 2' square and one about 3' tall by 6" round. The taller piece is roughly shaped into a blocky humanoid shape. The square piece is roughed out to be a kneeling humanoid, arms extended above its head.
Once Vallen and the other volunteers get into the canoe, Cueta takes the back seat to steer and paddle. As Vallen picks up the oars, Cueta says, "friend, I need your help with these statues. Break out your tools and we'll get someone else to row. I can tell you what we need of your artistry as we go..."
Hassan gives Istiel a hard look, "Who did you inform of your change of plans Istiel? Those others on duty still believed you were watching the north end?"
Gair wakes in good spirits, glad for the clear skies and calm waters. Remaining in Walton's longboat he stretches himself out enjoying the extra space and relative quiet left by those who moved to the canoe for the day's journey.
Taking out his carving gear, he sets back to work on the bow, mentioning to Ben and Walton, "Keep your eyes open for any canoes on the horizon, I'd hate for us to be surprised again."
Once the boats get off the beach, Cueta lets a longboat get a little bit ahead or the war canoe, and then asks her companions to paddle at a good clip. She pays attention to the longboat for awhile, trying to gauge if they are making up ground on the boat with a brisk, determined paddle.
Istiel seems slightly confused at Hassan's question, staring at him for a few seconds longer than a human would find comfortable. The elf churns through a century worth of memories to find the source of the man's anxiety. "Ah. This is a human misunderstanding." She says, her face resuming its usual impassiveness. "I forgot- some humans become upset when their plans go off course. In Greengold, the guards are more... nebulous. We often moved between posts on our own regard multiple times a day. I am surprised no one filled my spot. Very well. I will inform you next time." She nods, believing her explanation to be satisfactory.
Clearly biting back a much different response, Hassan speaks slowly, "Surely when your people switch posts they find someone to take their spot first? Otherwise Greengold must be a truly dangerous place indeed. It is our plans that keep us alive Istiel. We need to know that we can count on someone to be where they have told others they would. Not just to ensure that there are guards where they are needed but so we know where each person is should they be needed. We looked for you and you were not there when we needed you. I trust that will not happen again. Please inform your kinsmen to find replacements for themselves if they mean to wander off as well."
Finished, he turns back to the others, "She is right, it is likely smart to wait to make contact. Remind everyone to keep their distance from the dragons for now. We don't want any accidents."
Vallen goes to begin rowing when he is stopped by Cueta. He recalls her project for him, and begins to stroke his beard in thought. "Well, I came to row, but if the captain of this canoe tells me to do differently, I'm not one to argue, eh?" He smiles, getting out his wood-carving tools to begin drawing out the likenesses requested by Cueta with a piece of charcoal.
The dwarf works to her specifications roughing out the likenesses of Cueta on the kneeling figure, a sharktooth head on a platter, and what he remembers of bugbear faces from drawings. "Hope they don't take this statue too seriously... Next thing we'll know we'll be paying taxes to a bugbear."
The elf chortles as Hassan mentions Greengold being dangerous. "It is not the elves that cause danger in Greengold... ...We have more guards than posts. As one guard goes to a post, the previous guard leaves and finds another post, who relieves that guard. It is a cycle."
She begins to saunter away, hefting the fawn on her shoulders. "You praised two of my kin for wandering off into the forest yesterday, but I get a lecture for the same. Interesting." Unless Hassan physically stops her, the elf continues walking, ignoring anything the Keleshite may say.
Hassan lets the elf go, unwilling to force more of a confrontation at this time. Exhauling quickly, he turns from the others and returns to his duties.
As they sail east Ben settles into a spot in the prow of Walton's boat. Scanning the sea ahead of them and the coves they pass for sign of Kuru.
The day passes uneventfully. Bern and Kyle paddle the canoe while Cueta steers and Vallen carves. It's a good little boat that cuts the water nicely, and keeps pace well enough with the longboats , though at the end of the day Bern is weary and aching . Kyle seizes the opportunity to tease him.
An hour before sunset, the group spies the wreck and lands at the cove where the Harpy's survivors made landfall and were attacked. Manari and Jaysin, in particular, are in grim moods, but Sai is singing a seemingly endless shanty of the kind that no point other than to be as lewd and offensive as possible. Edmund seems to be enjoying it immensely.
No sign has been seen of your enemies, or any other creature other than the normal wildlife.
When they arrive Ben gathers his weapons and heads for the tree line. I am going to go scout around a bit. he calls over his shoulder. When he enters the tree line he slips in to the underbrush and waits quietly for a few minute to let the small creatures all around return to their normal patterns of behavior. Once things have settled he begins making a slow search of the area near the beach.
As the canoe slides into the wet sand of the beach, Vallen hops out and helps drag it further inland. Seeing Ben slip into the forest and vanish, the dwarf looks towards the wreck of the Harpy, attempting to judge its condition and if there is anything living in it.
"Let's set up camp, and then we should have a little chat with our captives, eh?" He says to Cueta. Looking at Bern aching and fatigued, the priest feels a tinge of guilt at having carved all day while he rowed.
Kal'Tos helps secure the boats to shore.
"I agree, now is time to get some answers."
Hauling on one of the longboats, Gair calls to Sia over at the other, "As amusing as that song is, we should try to avoid making too much noise, Sia. We have no idea what may be lurking nearby."
Watching the halfling disappear, he nods to the dwarves, "Indeed. It's about time we put the two of them together."
Moving to the back of the longboat, Gair hauls the one shark-tooth out and pushes it up the beach before lashing it to a tree and waiting for the others to bring the second one.
Cueta angles the boat towards the beach and jumps out of the canoe, relishing the cold ocean water as it hits her feet and knees. Pushing the boat up onto the beach, she congregates with Vallen, Gair and Kal'Tos. "Agreed. Shall we drag them out of their boats and near each other, over there? Cueta extends a pointing finger near the western side of the beach, close to the treeline, as Gair marches off. "Kal'Tos, you can enter the treeline and beseech your gods while we drag the sharkteeth over. I'll make sure to provoke them a bit."
Grabbing the sharktooth that surrendered, with help as she is not as strong as the northman, Cueta drags the hogtied Kuru towards the treeline, making sure to cause as much discomfort as possible, bumping his head on logs on the way, giving him pointed jabs with her boot, and making sure to drag him over the roughest patches of ground. Laying the prisoner on his belly, legs and feet still tied behind him, she goes to the canoe and grabs the statues, and as the Kurus are tied to trees, she brings the statues and puts the figures on the ground facing each other, about five feet away from the prisoners, in view of the two cannibals.
Cueta kneels to one knee by the statues and rests her hands over the statues. Very slowly and loudly, as if talking to a child, she says, in the common tongue, "Do you like my necklace? I made it out of your friend. Our friends, the goblins, will be very happy to hear of our victory over you." The Mwangi then stands up and walks to the side, bill in her hands, waiting to see what unfolds.
Kal'Tos positions himself about 15 feet behind them and casts comprehend languages once both are tied up.
Gair makes a show of collecting firewood a short ways off despite the fact that he has no intention of starting a fire tonight.
If any of the other NPC's approach he waves them off with a pointed look.
Vallen clears his throat, reminding everyone of one detail- the Kuru he shot in the face with acid is still heavily injured, and at best, lucid. While slightly morally conflicted about the idea, he figures it is in their best interest to have the Kuru fully awake.
He recruits Gair to assist dragging him, so that he may benefit from the healing and so he can put an axe between the thing's eyes if it decides it doesn't like being captive. Taking his holy symbol in hand, a burst of positive energy surges through the air, washing over Gair and acid-face.
Once this is done, the dwarf assists Gair in "collecting wood", his crossbow loaded and leaned up against a tree within arm's reach.
While not his best work, Vallen did a reliable job of creating the likenesses requested in such a short time. The bugbear face is perhaps a little stylized with its large teeth and bulging eyes, but quite recognizable. The smaller humanoid figure is that of a woman, whose face and hair was modeled after Cueta. It stands, presenting the severed head of a Kuru on a flat plate. After it haunted his dreams the night before, the dwarf couldn't resist making the head resemble that of the Kuru whose mouth was smashed in by Ben. It has the most detail of the piece- The severed head's teeth are smashed in and lie in bits on the plate, the stump of a neck holding a meaty texture and the eyes fixed in the blank, fearful stare of death.
Gair is hesitant at Vallens request but helps the dwarf move the captive a ways off all the same. Shivering slightly as the last of the tenderness recedes from his wounds taken the day before, he gives the dwarf a nod of thanks before hauling the somewhat revitalized shark-tooth back to his companion.
Stepping away again, the warrior returns to collecting firewood, asking Bern to give him a hand. He notes his son's weariness but leaves the boy his pride and makes no mention of it.
Sai looks at Gair and smirks. "My name is Sai," she reminds him, and starts singing an even cruder song about a none-too-clever Kellid who played leapfrog with a unicorn.
Ben slips into the forest so quickly that Bern asks if they somehow forgot him when they set off that morning, which has Kyle laughing his head off for a long time. Until Bern snaps, "Pretty funny from a guy who can't even hold his weapon."
While they fuss at each other, Ben settles into the landscape and notices nothing out of the ordinary. As far as he can tell, nothing but animals has been here since they left, though it's entirely likely that yesterday's storm wiped out any signs.
Vallen sees nothing that suggests there is anything alive on the wreck, though it is a long way off.
When Gair comes for the sharktooth, he is given a sharp reminder of why they are called sharkteeth, as the creature snaps at him. He and Cueta are careful to keep their hands away from the mouths after that, and when they leave them together at the treeline, the two glare fiercely. When Cueta walks off, they speak.
"I would take you," the other says. "They may not. The bearded ones don't."
"These bearded ones look different," acid-face says. "Why would they bring us, if not to eat us?"
"Perhaps they mean to feed us to their goddess?" the other says.
"Face your death with more courage than you showed against our enemies, then."
"Do you think we can escape?"
"To what? They have our canoe. Better to die in her sight. If we go into the forest, we may never see her again."
"Will they see the light? Will they come for us?" the un-scarred kuru mutters, seeing the firewood being collected.
"We can hope."
etc.
Bern and Kyle lend a hand gathering firewood, and after a moment's confusion, so does Edmund.
Once the spell runs out Kal'Tos heads away from the shark-teeth and circles around to rejoin the group.
"didn't learn much useful information from them but they think a fire might attract the attention of their friends. They are confused as to why they are still alive. They also recognized dwarves, but can tell we are different from the native ones. They did confirm that the dwarves don't eat people and they don't think the dwarves take prisoners. They also appear to worship the sun."
Setting down the firewood, Gair considers what Kal'Tos tells him, "That suggests that their settlement is rather close. We should be very cautious while we're here. That is good news about the dwarves. These lands seem as diverse as our own. If that is the extent of your learning we should let Ceuta try to speak with them, see if we can learn more directly?"
Vallen intently listens to Kal'tos, fingers running over the intricate drawings of the rings holding his beard together. "Interesting... Well Kal'tos, at least our brethren in these lands aren't cannibals. They worship the sun? I wonder if they mean Sarenrae, the Dawnflower? I thought Kuru were sensitive to bright lights, as kobolds are, which would be a strange choice; not to mention the followers of the Dawnflower would have a thing or two to say about cannibalism."
The dwarf reflects on what he learned from communicating with his celestial benefactors in order to determine if this is common practice for Kuru.
The priest looks to Cueta. "Cueta, could you try speaking Polyglot to them? If you can get some kind of communication with them, we can begin asking questions. With the power of Torag and Abadar, we can easily make sure they speak the truth."
If she agrees, Vallen will approach the Kuru with her, whispering a prayer to Torag to allow him to understand their words.
Newspring :
Later in the evening Hassan admires the hide shirt Horn'tos has made him, "This is exquisite Horn'Tos, I cannot thank you enough. A little ostentatious to be sure but perhaps a little showmanship is needed in these trying times. I will wear it with pride my friend."
Slipping into the shirt, he feels the thickness of the bear hide and thr protection it offers. Stretching to test it's maneuverability he smiles, seeming satisfied.
Cueta approaches the sharkteeth and standing out of biting reach, sighs and tries to adopt a look of sadness.
"Ingabe unayo izingane noma omama? Bekungeke bathanda ukukubona futhi?"
Finding no signs of anyone but themselves in the immediate area Ben returns to the beach. Seeing the part of the group busy with the cannibals he approaches Edmund Thayer. We appear to be alone here for now. What are they doing with the Kuru? and why are you gathering firewood?
"No matter the outcome of Cueta's attempts to communicate, the Kuru's crimes cannot go unpunished. killing and eating people alone would be punishable by death, and not necessarily a swift one, back home. Forget these carvings to communicate with the Bugbears. Crucifying these Kuru will see that justice is served and send a clear message to both other Kuru and the bugbears."
"No Kal'Tos. These are warriors. They fought well and were defeated. Offer them a warriors death or set them free when we are ready to return to Newspring. No simple mortal deserves the death you describe."
The kuru stare at Cueta, clearly having no idea what she's saying. Surrenderpants just looks afraid, but Acidface snarls at her.
"Your friends will feed our brothers," he says. "And you will bear our sons."
Thayer looks up as Ben approaches.
"No sign of anyone in the woods?" he says. Then he jerks his head towards Gair. "He wants to gather wood. To make the prisoners think we're going to start a fire and bring their friends."
You have never heard of any cannibals worshipping Sarenrae. Even if they did worship her, you are sure that the goddess would never grant her blessing on any creature that devours other sentients. Generally, cannibals (at least in the old world) tend towards demon-worship, as even most devils find the practice abhorrent.
Meanwhile, in Newspring, Horn'Tos gives a small smile, nearly hidden by his prodigious mustache, but clear in his eyes.
"You're supposed to be the captain in times of emergency," he says. "You need to be recognizable."
"Hm, Kal'tos, I don't believe they worship the sun. It doesn't make any sense. Typically, Kuru worship demons or the like. I've never heard of a sun-demon, but the infinite pits of the abyss are home to infinite horrors...
Vallen finds the ability to understand both Cueta and the Kuru to be a bit strange, because they obviously don't understand each other. The dwarf clears his throat at Acidface's comments, looking over to the Ijo. "Uh... they don't comprehend what you're saying. Anything else you want to try while I can understand them?" The dwarf sighs, taking pity on the fearful-looking Surrenderpants, even if he did try to bite Gair's fingers off a while ago.
Cueta casts a sideways glance at the priest. I fear this one is too kind for this world.
"That's what the burned one said? The he doesn't understand us? He seems angry."
The dwarf looks a bit embarrassed. "Well, no, that's not what he specifically said, but it's clear he doesn't understand us. He said we'd be food for his brothers, and such."
Cueta laughs, long and full, from her belly. Making overly-exaggerated pantomimes, she points to the burned Kuru then to herself and Vallen, and then, grabbing Vallen's arm she acts out taking bites out of it, and then rubs her belly as if full. Pausing, she looses her mirth, and looking deadly serious at the Kuru, shakes her head and finger. "You will be eating nothing."
Setting down his armful of wood, Gair motions for the others to do the same and moves closer to the shark-teeth, his expression disdainful of both of the prisoners, "If he still wishes to make threats after his defeat we will answer them."
After learning from Edmund what the group is up to Ben goes to help Walton and Sai with the boats. Getting them ready to drag up the beach to hide in the forest.
I am getting the impression that efforts to communicate with them aren't going well he says quietly to his brother.
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Acidface laughs at Cueta's pantomime and mutters to his companion.
Surrenderpants - Maybe she'll come and set us free in the night.
Walton shakes his head.
"Not sure," he says. "They want to eat us, but we already knew that."
Vallen seems a tad uncomfortable as Cueta grabs his arm and pretends to eat it, a look of concern crossing over his face. As the Kuru speak to each other the look of concern deepens, but for a different reason. "Uhhh. Well... uh, I don't think they understood you." He says, quickly, taking his arm back and putting on his best confused look.
By Torag's magnificent mustache, why did I volunteer for this...
Gair gives the dwarf a concerned look, "You gathered more than you are telling us Vallen. What are they saying?"