.
The storm came up suddenly, but seemed to blow for days. Slaves died as they were thrown across the hold into each other, and those that survived did not fair much better. The ship began to take on water, and slaves and masters alike were finding themselves trapped, unable to breathe until they finally succumb to the deep embrace of death. On the deck, everything was quickly lashed down, but not before more than a few crew were tossed overboard - some lucky enough to be crushed to death by moving cannons and cargo, finding a quick and relatively painless death. Screams where oft hear over the constant din of the storm, and never seemed to quiet.
Somehow, you survived. You don't recall much. At some point during the storm, ou passed out or were knocked unconscious - you can't be sure. All you know is that you are floating on the now calm waves of the sea, lashed to a piece of the ship that bobs in the surf. You are hungry and parched, and feel nothing but pain. Your eyes look around, and you see land not far away. It appears that the sea is pushing you into shore, but you kick to speed the process, eager to touch land.
Little, if any, of your possesions remain. You see a barrel floating in, nearby. Is that another person crawling up on the sandy beach? Perhaps others have survived. But where are you? There was no charted land near your understanding of the ship's course. For now, you don't care. Survival is the only thing on your mind.
Suddently, you feel sand beneath your feet! You drag yourself and your piece of the ship further up the shore, and fall down, breathing.
Echo drags herself ashore, coughing and hacking; spitting up seawater and worse; shivering with cold. A wave strikes, knocking her over on the sand, and she lays there in the surf, half-drowned, heartbroken and defeated.
I've failed him... Oh, Benjamin! I'm so sorry!
The ledger was gone, the slaver was gone... She would never get to tell Gilly about her brother, or find out what happened to Sara... She would never get revenge against her beloved dreamer's murderer.
She cries there for a while, shivering in the sand with the waves crashing into her, snot and tears running down her face.
Stop it. Get up. GET UP.
It's the lumberjack. Her practical dreamer.
You're going to die. Get up.
Echo struggles up onto her knees, freezing with cold, and begins to crawl up onto the beach.
You're shipwrecked. Freezing. Thirsty and hungry. You need food, shelter and warmth.
Echo struggles further up onto the beach. Sand sticks to her sopping wet form--body and clothes covered in the prickly stuff. It itches, but she barely notices. Her lumberjack's coming to the surface, reminding her how to survive.
It'll be a struggle...
I know. I remember. I'll struggle. I'll fight. There's work to do.
You're going to die.
I'm NOT going to die. I'm not ready to die. I'm not ready to be the next dreamer.
So Echo gets up, struggling to her feet. She lets go of her despair and disappointment. Let's go of regret. Those things won't help her now. Benjamin won't help her now. Now it's her lumberjack's turn. Angrit.
And she's right. There's lots to do.
Echo rubs her hands along her arms, checks herself for wounds and equipment. After taking stock of herself and her things, Echo looks around the beach, hoping for signs of shelter, food, or warmth.
As she spots another figure moving on the beach, clearly a castaway like herself, she feels a shiver of apprehension. Are they a slaver or a slave? Or were they her dreamer's murderer? Oh, gods.... Anyone but him...
The kitsune blearily opens her eyes, mind slowly swimming back up to consciousness. She was still floating, lashed to a chunk of deck... had she tied these knots herself? She couldn't seem to remember...
For a few moments she just drifted, mind spinning in little circles of meaningless thoughts, before she suddenly gasped. Who was she today? Frantically she sorted through her memories until she remembered. Aki Mori, a tough little Tien woman, born in Absalom, who'd made her way to Cheliax and a slaver's ship based on being light and quick with her hands. Her mind settles into her persona with the swiftness of long practice.
With her identity settled, Aki raises her head and looks around. Something was floating nearby, and...
...land? Land!
Sluggishly Aki gets herself pointed towards the shore and starts feebly kicking. The motion reminds her that she aches everywhere just now, but survival demands land, and that means moving.
So focused is she on this thought that it takes her a couple moments to realize that she's starting to kick sand instead of water. Aki pauses to process this thought, which gives the planks she's tied to time to hit the shore. The jolt shocks her out of her confusion.
Now she needed to be free of the wood that had saved her. Fortunately she was good at slipping free of knots, because her hands didn't seem to be very coordinated just now.
Once Aki had slipped her bonds, she crawls forward a little ways onto the beach, then pauses and looks around.
Looking around, you see debris (including some bodies) scattered up the shoreline. The sandy beach covers about 100 feet before turning into jungle.
Above the trees, you see a single huge mountain rising into the sky. It is probably at least 20 miles away from you. At your feet, tiny crabs scurry away and dig themselves into the wet sand.
Otherwise, the day is pleasant. The sky is blue with occasional white clouds. Across the sea, you see nothing but never-ending water.
|
The first thing Pharithstilis is conscious of is the need to cough, and up comes a lung full of water. Gasping for air, he lies on his back, instinctually waiting for sense to return.
The world is dark, and wet. He remembers the ship, the sounds of the storm, the screams and cries for help. He remembers something large and heavy slam into him and that's about it.
He coughs again and this time the seawater comes up from his stomach. He's face up, hands tied to some wooden board, but the world feels relatively stable compared to being on a ship. Then, Pharithstilis feels the waves lightly lapping at him.
He rolls over and finds himself face first in wet sand, a beach! He tests the ropes around his wrists and finds they have loosened enough for him to slip his nimble arms out. Quickly pulling his blindfold off, Pharithstilis looks around, seeing wreckage and bodies likewise strewn across the shore. Then, movement. Others are moving around, walking along the beach or standing dazed and bewildered.
This in turn knocks him out of his dazed state. I've got to get free. Gotta escape! Not knowing friend from foe, Pharithstilis hurries to free himself from the rest of his bindings.
With her checks from earlier, does she have any idea which way to go to find fresh water, or see any trees on the jungle edge that are growing edible fruits she can eat?
---
Echo looks around the shore, spotting a few bodies nearby. She wanders over to them, checking to see if they're alive or dead. She rifles through the pockets and possessions of the dead, checking for anything that might be of use, including articles of clothing that seem in good condition.
She also checks through the debris she sees nearby, looking for useful objects, bits of rope, pieces of wood and anything else of note. She drags the debris into a row further up on the dry part of the beach, letting it dry out in the sun out for use as firewood, containers or carving.
The storm came from nowhere, throwing the kennels against the ship's bulwark... Malothor rushed to secure the cages before they were lost overboard, along with the Captain's precious hounds. The ship tossed and turned, the Captain was shouting orders and Malothor followed, frightened by the fury of the sea.
He could see walls of water all around, and then the ship was breaking apart, torn under the swelling sea... The shock of the icy cold water and the roar of lightning was all he could feel, he knew he had fallen overboard, yet somehow he felt that what really had happened was that the ship had just disappeared from underneath him, I am going to die..., he thought, somehow at peace and resigned to finally bidding farewell to a cruel and hopeless life. The water poured into his lungs, and he did not fight it, just continued breathing it in...
Underneath the storming seas, deep below the surface, he was floating in a bubble of tranquillity. He felt the ancient metal warm against his chest, just like it always tingled after he called on his faith.
He could see the bodies and cargo sinking into the black abyss below him, and yet he just hung suspended, fascinated by the destruction swirling around him. Then he saw the Captain in the water. A short distance away, kicking frantically, trying to free himself from a tangle of rope that was pulling him down. Malothor felt a sudden urge to claw at the man's face. He calmly floated over holding out an arm in the universal gesture of aid and rescue, Blackburn saw him, relief rushing to his eyes as he stretched out his own arms trying to grasp on to his saviour.
Malothor easily avoided the frantic grasping, focused on the pouch the Captain kept around his neck, he pulled hard tearing it away. In a split second relief turned to panic, and Blackburn tried again to grab at him, but the hobgoblin moved quickly and kicked up against the man's chest and surged up to the surface. As he shot up he watched the desperate battle for life beneath him... and he laughed.
+++++++++++
He clutched the pouch in a death grip, his other arm wrapped around a piece of debris. The storm raged on, and the hobgoblin bobbed up and down holding on desperately. Yet as the hours turned into days, his body hardened by years of servitude and hard labor, eventually began to fail, his arms holding tight to the broken beam ached in agony, and finally his spirit gave up... and he let go...
The sound of crashing waves, the cold water splashing on his face, the soft sand under his aching body... that is all he felt. Sand under his body... could it be?
Malothor strained against the lethargy and numbness enveloping his body, he imagined himself crawling out of the surf, yet he just lay there unmoving. He tried again, visualizing his knees digging into the sand, his arms pulling his body, his neck lifting his head...
This time he moved, just barely, but it was the proof he needed that he was alive. Slowly his limp form, started responding to his will, and he dragged himself out of the water. With the greatest of efforts he turned onto his back, absorbing the warmth from the sun.
Malothor just lays there for what seems an eternity, and then he finally stands up and opens his eyes. The pouch he has been clutching for days, knuckles white from the strain, dangles by his side. In a surge of pure joy, like a child opening a present, he rips open the pouch turning it over and watches a stream of copper and silver coins pouring onto the beach.
"Smoke?", he whispers against the sea breeze, "Smoke!", louder. He falls into the puddle of coins, desperately flinging sand away searching for his only true friend...
The hobgoblin starts sobbing uncontrollably, kneeling in the sand...
As Echo works diligently to find tools for survival, she recovers some various lengths of rope, part of a canvas sail, and plenty of driftwood. She finds a dead man, who is already bloated from the water and sun, but she finds nothing useful on the body. The next body she comes across is a gnome, struggling to free himself. (Pharithstilis Euduethistle)
Aki looks around, and sees that scene unfold, but also hears a soft wailing of grief behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she sees a large figure hunched over in the sand, sobbing. (Malothor)
You have not yet found much editable from your quick glances from the beach, but you see a couple of coconut trees, and suspect there must be an abundance of food to find deeper in the jungle. Of course, the sea also provides much, for those that have the knowledge to get it.
Echo collects the various lengths of rope, part of a canvas sail, and plenty of driftwood, laying things out to dry on the beach. She takes note of the coconut trees nearby, but wanders over to the squirming little gnome instead.
"Hold still," she tells him. "You're safe now."
She carefully unties the knots, not want to wreck the rope by cutting it.
"There! All free," she announces. "You all right?" She offers her hand to the gnome to hang onto while he stands.
"I'm Echo, by the way."
Aki gets to her feet shakily, grimmacing against the aches that flare up as she does so. The wailing... person looked vaguely familiar... that's right, he'd been with the captain. Her heart hardened a bit. That meant he'd been a slaver...
...but she'd caught hints someone else on the ship wasn't who they seemed. It seemed unlikely that this wretched hobgoblin was that person, but shipwrecked like this it seemed likely it wouldn't matter that much. From the glimpses she'd gotten of him the captain hadn't treated him well, anyway.
Aki forces herself to put one foot in front of the other and walk over to the sobbing hobgoblin.
"Hey, now, what's all this?" she asks, still subconsciously playing her part of 'tough little sailor'. "We survived a shipwreck we'd no right to live through. Now's the time for staying that way, which isn't going to happen crying out what water you've got left in you on the beach."
Nathan wakes up to find himself on a beach he's never seen before. How did we get here? Wherever here is.
He slowly drags himself to his feet. His affinity for water, and swimming ability means he made it through the ship going down about as well as one could hope for. Feeling a bit parched after the ordeal, be creates a bit of water from the ambient humidity to drink, and looks around.
|
|
The woman walking up to him seemed friendly enough, but Pharithstilis squirmed even harder as she approached. She might have noticed his widened eyes and heavy breathing as she bent down to untie him.
He fights the urge to scramble away as she offers her hand and makes her introduction. It's a miracle you're alive. Nows not the time to be runnin' off into some strange jungle no knowin' anything 'bout where you are. Besides, she might be a slave, too, and in needin' of help.
He takes her hand and gets to his feet. After a moment of wooziness and another coughing fit, he returns the introduction. "The names Pharithstilis. Don't bother if you can't pronounce it. Echo, that's an unusual name I suppose. However, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Are you hurt? Were you on that ship? What happened?"
He speaks rapidly and without pause until he has to stop to draw a breath. This causes another coughing fit, and when he recovers he takes a moment to finally look around and take in the surroundings beyond the beach. Having been bound and blindfolded in the lower decks of the slave ship, he had lost track of time and had no idea how far they had traveled before the storm hit.
"Uh... I don't suppose you happen to know where we are?"
Echo smiles. "Ah, you seem alright! Cough it out, and you'll be fine." When Pharithstilis is done coughing she continues, "Yeah, I was on that ship. A sailor, you'd have seen me as, but don't worry. I'm no slaver. I was looking for information on a friend who was sold into a slavery a long time ago. Trying to find her. Didn't work, obviously," she admits with a chuckle. "A storm hit us and here we are! Not a clue where here is, of course."
She gives Pharithstilis a moment to gather himself. "There's some others on the beach. Not sure if they're slavers or not. Far as I'm concerned, you're free, yeah? We can keep this between us?"
---
When Pharistilis is ready, Echo leads him further down the beach. "Keep your eyes open for things we can use. Buckets and barrels will be especially useful. Canvas and rope is good, too. And survivors, of course."
|
|
Pharithstilis stands there for a moment, rubbing his wrists where the ropes bound him, and his shoulder, bruised from whatever large thing smashed into him on the ship.
"Oh!" he exclaims as he realizes Echo has moved on down the beach, and he rushes to catch up with her.
"Say, I'm sorry 'bout your friend. You know, before I ended up on that ship, I was helpin' people escape to freedom in Andoran. What was her name? Maybe I've helped her..." he offers hopefully.
As they move along the beach, Pharithstilis wiggles his fingers and encants, using prestidigitation magic to dry his and her clothes and hair and clean them of sand.
He joins her in rummaging through the wreckage, and stands maybe too close to her when they find other survivors.
Really?" Echo asks. "That's wonderful! And very brave of you. It was a long time ago, though, and I don't know her last name. Her first name was Sara. She was picked up along with a man named Benjamin about 22 years ago. Benjamin didn't make it, though. He never made it off the slave ship."
Noticing her clothes are dry, Echo smiles. "Well, that's a neat trick! Thanks!"
Echo doesn't seem to mind Pharithstilis standing too close.
Aki forces herself to put one foot in front of the other and walk over to the sobbing hobgoblin."Hey, now, what's all this?" she asks, still subconsciously playing her part of 'tough little sailor'. "We survived a shipwreck we'd no right to live through. Now's the time for staying that way, which isn't going to happen crying out what water you've got left in you on the beach."
Malothor is startled by the sudden appearance of the woman. He glances up and recognizes the deckhand from the ship. He subconsciously assumes his servile manner, keeping his head down low and stutters hoarsely, "Y-y-yes s-s-sorry mistress-s-s", his body tenses and he seems coiled and ready to spring away if his haggard and dehydrated body would let him.
He nervously glances around like a frightened animal, not looking at the woman's face, searching to see if she is alone or is with other crew members.
Blackness eventually gives way to consciousness.
Strange. I should be dead.
Celebeth coughs and a rattling, wheezing sound portends bad things for her lungs. Water dribbles out of her mouth, and she can taste the metallic tang of blood, but she doesn't know where it's from.
Her eyes open and the overwhelming brightness dazzles her briefly, then subsides to uneven sparkles bursting all over her field of vision. Rocks covered in tiny shells and broken pieces of seaweed - jagged chunks of stone lying on an outcropping on the sandy beach.
That explains why everything hurts. I landed on the sharp rocks. Why couldn't I wash up on the sand?
She pushes herself up from the ground and her arms struggle weakly and she falls back down. Lying on her stomach on the jagged rock, she squirms a bit and finds her legs hindered by something grabbing them. She starts suddenly and looks back, but she has no weapons - but it is only kelp tangled around her feet.
She rolls onto her side, then painfully stands. She wipes her face, and her hand comes away bloody.
When the tide crashed me onto the rocks, I must've struck my head, she thinks. She gingerly washes the blood away with seawater.
She sits and empties the water and sand from her boots, glad that they somehow remained on her feet, ten removes and squeezes her clothing out as best she can. Bereft of weapons and armor, she shields her eyes with one hand and surveys the tropical landscape of the island beach.
Better find somewhere to get away from the water, she thinks. Need to get dry before dark.
She drags her sandy, salty, wet clothes back on and starts heading for the nearest trees that she can see inland.
Aki sighs, irrationally irritated by the hobgoblin's obsequiousness. "I'm not going to whip you or anything. Look, we're all crashed here together. We're going to need water, we're going to need food, and we're going to need shelter, in that order. Have any ideas how we're going to get those things?"
Nathan will wander over to the others. "You guys are from the same ship right? I'm Nathan. "
As Echo and Pharastilis reach the others, she pauses a moment.
"Ready, Pharastilis?"
When he's ready, Echo wanders over to the others.
"Hi there," she greets the others. "I'm Echo, this is Pharastilis. Nice to see you, Nathan. And, I'm sorry, I've forgotten your names..." she remarks to Aki and Malothor.
"Yes, we were on the same ship..." she begins, letting the thought trail off. "More important things now, though, of course. Right?"
Malothor sees other figures approaching along the beach, and answers the deckhands questions... he tries to remember her name but just recalls she was a newer crew member.
He stands up and responds, "I-i can f-find water and sh-shelter. F-food too!"
As he finishes another woman and a gnome approach, followed closely by a man. He recognizes the gnome, as Malothor was part of the team that captured and carried him tied and blindfolded to the ship. The other two were also crew members. He immediately feels very nervous surrounded by 3 crew members.
"Y-y-yes Ma-ma-ma'am! F-food, water and sh-shelter f-f-f-f-first", he continues looking around terrified if Captain Blackburn or his First Officer survived the wreck.
He timidly asks, "Have y-y-you found other s-survivors?"
"Oh yes, water. I can take care of water. I'm not so hot on roughing it in general, but I do have a knack for water. Cup your hands. " and with that he starts condensing copious water for the people to drink till they have had their fill.
"Now as for food and shelter, can't say I'm much good for that. "
"Oh, wonderful!" Echo exclaims as Nathan fills their hands with water. "I can do that, too! Handy trick, Nathan."
|
|
Pharithstilis quietly waves from behind Echo's legs when he is introduced. Seeing Malothor makes him especially nervous. However, Nathan's offering of water brings him much joy, and he slurps it down, very thirsty from all the seawater he ingested floating at sea.
He in turn continues drying peoples clothes with the prestidigitation spell as long as it lasts. (1 hr)
These people are very different to the normal crew members. They are helpful and aid each other... why?
Malothor watches the crew playing with water and the gnome prisoner drying everyone up and is completely confused. His expression would be comical if their situation were not so dire.
Stepping back and away from the crowd he scans the tree line looking for shelter...
"Well, I'm glad to see we all made it out alive!" Echo announces happily. Then she suddenly turns sober. " It's too bad more of us didn't... All those poor people...". Echo looks sad for a moment. Then she suddenly shakes her head and smiles. "No time to dwell on that now. Things to do! Pharithstilis and I have been searching for survivors and collecting debris we could use to help make some shelter or tools, but there's plenty of other work to do..."
"I think we need to keep looking along the beach for salvage we can use, but food and shelter is also paramount. There's some coconut trees over there, and I'm sure there are plenty of other fruits we can eat for now. I haven't gone into the jungle to see about game yet... Not sure how the hunting will go."
"We can cover more ground if we split up, but that could be dangerous. We don't know what could be waiting for us in the jungle..."
Echo shrugs. "What do you guys think? Should we look for something to use as a shelter for now? It could be a good place to gather our other supplies together. And we don't want to be stuck in the open if another storm hits."
Aki relaxes just a little as she recognizes that at least a couple of other survivors weren't slavers. Still, she doesn't break persona.
"We've got water, and that's most important," she states in a no-nonsense tone. "Food and shelter are next, but you're right about now being the time to look through what washed ashore. We just can't linger about it too long. After how long we've been at sea, we all need food to keep our strength up."
Separated from the rest, Celebeth heads toward a coconut tree. Are coconuts even in season? Perhaps the palm fronds can make ground cover when night falls.
As she reaches the grass away from the sand she mutters a few arcane words and with a mystic pass she whisks away sand and seawater. Then she makes a slow turn around, looking for movement or smoke or other signs of survivors.
It is about mid-day, so you have lot's of light left. Malathor and Echo make some progress with a very basic shelter, and Celebeth finds a few mostly ripe coconuts. You don't find much else of value to have washed up yet.
Now that you have some basics, you take stock of your position. Having ample fresh water is very good, but food is currently scarce. You have a basic, but not very comfortable shelter. Until conditions improve, you will be not be able to remove fatigue conditions from resting.
Spotting motion in the distance, Celebeth crouches down in the tall grass and moves quietly through the brush. She remains lurking in the bushes as she sees people gathering and starting preparations to develop a campsite.
"Hey, weirdos!" she says loudly as she steps out of the underbrush. "I know a few of you so it seemed like a good idea to make my presence known. I bear gifts." She holds up the pair of ripe coconuts. "Now we just need some rocks to get these open."
Malothor follows along with the rest of the survivors, and assists with finding shelter amongst the trees. He seems aloof and does not engage much in the conversation, only adding comments once the details of organizing the camp begins in earnest.
"We are all t-tired, d-dehydr-r-rated and h-h-hungry after spending d-days in the ocean. Let's f-f-focus to-n-n-night on r-recovering our s-strength. Sleep and eat."
He takes some of the berries and nuts gathered during the day and whispers some strange words over them...
He then passes out one berry or nut to each person, "Eat it. You will f-feel f-full."
After that he murmurs more words between two trees and a strange cocoon woven from spider webs appears between them. A small door allows entry into the shelter, "Sleep".
"Hello, Celebeth," Echo greets her. "Lucky for you we've got plenty of rocks!" She happily helps Celebeth break her way into the coconuts with rocks and a dagger.
---
"Wonderful, Malothor! That's lovely." Echo happily enters the weird shelter and looks around. When its time to turn in she sleeps like the dead. She's too exhausted to care about setting watch.
---
The next day Echo is going to start using her carpentry skill to make a good shelter, using Burst of Insight to get a +4 bonus on the roll.
Do you need one roll or two? It takes all day, right?
|
|
As Malothor and Echo work on constructing the shelter, Pharithstilis makes himself useful by continuing to pull pieces of the wreckage up the beach for them to use. Any piece of wood not deemed useful he dries out to be used for firewood later. When his prestidigitation runs out, he begins to use his magic to mend ripped canvas, snapped rigging, and broken planks for use for the shelter.
He remains mostly quiet during all of this, and stays near to Echo, she being the only one he can trust so far. He's especially cautious of Malothor, recognizing him as one of his captors, but with the offering of magic fruit and shelter from the hobgoblin, he begins to change his mind.
The next day he decides he wants to see more of the island and asks Celebeth, "Hey, where'd you find those coconuts? Maybe we can find more things to eat?"
Echo keeps an eye out for her nervous little gnome friend during the day. When she sees all of the hard work he's put in she smiles and exclaims:
"Nice job, Pharithstilis! Thanks for your help."
---
Echo smiles when Pharithstilis finally works up the courage to head out with Celebeth.
"Have fun," she tells him with a wave as he heads out to go exploring.
"Found 'em on a small stand of the trees over thataway," says Celebeth to Pharithstilis, pointing in the direction she came from.
"Lots of palm leaves. Those could be some good ground cover for the night, keep us from freezing. If we can figure out some way to fish we should be all right for some food to go with the coconuts," she says.
"I, uh, don't seem to have washed up with anything useful, just my clothes. Lucky me! But we should definitely take a look at the coast, see if we can find anything before the rest of the wreckage sinks or floats away."
The next morning Malothor wakes up refreshed after a good nights sleep. The shelter quickly disappears with the morning sun. The hobgoblin distributes the last of his nuts and berries enchanted from the night before.
---
Malothor seems more at ease in the morning, encouraged by the comraderie and good nature demonstrated by his fellow survivors the day before. He walks a little straighter, and looks at people when he talks instead of at their feet, but is still unwilling to look at folks in the eye.
"M-maybe we work in pairs to stay safe until we are more familiar with the island. Priorities for today are food, and building more permanent shelter."
He looks at the elf Celebeth and the gnome Parithstilis, "You did well yesterday scavenging the shipwreck. Please continue that today. Look for any weapons we can use for hunting and fishing - spears, harpoons, nets..."
He looks around the camp at the wood stockpiled the day before, "Echo and Nathan, you know how to build ships, right? Could you build a shelter with these materials?"
Turning to Aki, "That leaves you and me to hunt for food and gather more nuts and berries."
He looks around waiting to see if anyone has other suggestions or ideas.
---
Will spend two actions gathering food and hunting:
Will cast Deadeye's Lore on himself for a +4 sacred bonus to Survival.
---
Malothor will show Aki the signs of animal trails, which berries are good for eating, which are poisonous, and how to set simple snares using vines and tree limbs.
They return in the evening with a number of small game dressed and cleaned.
Aki reaches behind her and pulls a dagger out from under her shirt. "I kept a knife," she states.
She hesitates a moment before adding, "And I know a bit of magic. I can help with fire and cleaning things up," she nods at Pharithstilis.
"I'm good on the deck of a ship or in a city, but not wilderness. If one of you takes the lead, though, I could help with hunting or building."
"Thank you," Echo tells Malathor as she happily eats the nuts and berries offered to her.
---
"In pairs?" Echo asks, considering this. "Would you like to help me, Nathan? I've got skill as a carpenter in addition to being a shipwright, so I might get a bit... bossy." Echo shrugs and smiles sheepishly.
"Here's what I'm thinking..."
Echo then wanders off with Nathan, pointing at what pieces of wood she's going to use where, which things she's going to use as makeshift tools, how she's planning on making the shelter, and so on. She's open to suggestions and collaboration and will work with Nathan to put their ideas together into something better.
"Ready?" she asks him with a twinkle in her eye. She clearly loves to build things.
Nathan will help with the shelter with his craft ship skill. It's all woodworking after all.
"Um, yeah, I can try, but it's a bit out of my wheelhouse. " and it was
The first night is uneventful, and thanks to water provided by Nathan's Basic Hydrokinesis, Goodberries produced by Malathor, and your basic shelter coupled with Malathor's web shelter, you manage to get a good nights rest.
Day 2 is looking brighter. You don't know where you are, but you are able to spend the day figuring out how to survive.
Celebeth and Parithstilis gather materials. Echo is apparently a master carpenter, and even without tools finds a way to upgrade your shelter with a floor and better roof. Nathan attempts to help, but looks awkward and in the way. Meanwhile, Malathor spends the day looking to see what the area has to offer in terms of sustenance, and brings back plenty! Nuts, berries, a couple of huge crabs, and even a large fish. Aki gets a firepit setup and builds a decent fire.
Shelter Level: 3
Food: Well Fed
Water: Not an issue due to Nathan's Basic Hydrokinesis
Party Status: no fatigue, all fully healed
You are tired, but happy at today's progress. You settle in for the night.
As you sit and discuss, what are your plans for day 3?
"Thanks, Nathan," Echo tells him with a pat on the back. "A plan is nothing without strong arms to build it."
When people begin to return to the shelter, Echo waves them over.
"Did you find anything?" she asks Celebeth and Pharithstilis. She then wanders over to see what bits of debris they've found. Echo clearly intends to make use of everything, including scraps of string, wood bits, rocks and shells. Everything.
"Is that meat I see?" Echo asks Malothor and Aki. "May I?" she asks. "I'm actually a pretty good cook." As she looks at the food she remarks. "This is great, guys. Really, wonderful."
To everyone she says, "You guys have a seat. Try out the structure we built. Relax. We've all had a long day."
Echo relaxes her mind and calls the skills she learned from one of her dreamers. Hendrick, the chef. Soon she's got food over the fire and it (hopefully) smells good.
As soon as it's ready she passes it out to the others, on sticks or makeshift stone plates.
"Dig in. You all deserve it." As she eats, Echo thanks Malothor and Aki for catching it/collecting it.
---
After dinner, as they sit around the fire and some of them tuck in for bed, Echo remarks.
"You know, I used to sing. Do you mind? I'll keep it mellow, so it doesn't disturb your sleep."
Echo then goes on to sing for a while, quietly, and mellow songs, in different languages (elven mostly), all of which are quite old and archaic. She's rusty, at first, as if it's been a long time since she's sang, but finds her voice in time, and she's a bit better than average.
---
"Our shelter should hold for a while," Echo remarks. "We'll need more food again tomorrow. Malothor and Aki, are you up for hunting again?"
"We should get out and explore the area around us--make sure it's safe to stay here. But I think I am going to make myself useful around camp first. We'll need lots of tools to make surviving easier. And we have plenty of wood. I'll do some carving. Does anyone have a request?"
"I've not been a lot of help around here except the water, so I think I should do some exploring. That way I can be useful for a change. I'd like at least one other body to come with me in case there's trouble. "
|
|
Pharithstilis dines happily on the coconut and crab meat. He's never had such delicacy, having spent the bulk of his life inland. The novelty of being shipwrecked should tack on a year or two to his gnomish life.
He had fun combing the beach and exploring tidepools with Celebeth, and in addition to whatever useful materials they found, brought back pockets full of interesting shells that he is now laying out in various arrangements in the firelight.
"If I had some string, or strips of leather, this'll look good as a necklace, and this a bracelet, and these earrings..."
All in all, Pharithstilis is beginning to warm up to the others and seems excited at the prospect of exploring the island and seeing as much as he can.
Malothor chews on the crab and fish with gusto, licking his fingers and make-shift plate. He finds himself strangely at ease for the first time in a long time, and even jokes with his new companions occasionally. He has a childish sense of humor and laughs at any crude or silly thing people say.
"Yes I can go hunting again tomorrow. And tonight before I sleep let me show you something I can do speaking to Earth Mother. Maybe it helps with building shelter."
He walks to one of the sides of the shelter and murmurs a few words... Suddenly a low wall of packed earth and loose stone measuring 3 feet thick, 3 feet tall, and 10 feet long appears along the side.
"I can do that again each night. So in four nights we can have a square low wall as the foundation of the shelter, on top of which you can build the rest."
He then seems completely exhausted from a long day of work, and goes to sleep. Just before his low snores break the silent night he whispers, "I can take early dawn watch, I need to sleep fully tonight. Thank you for cooking dinner Echo, it was delicious. May the Old Father watch over all of you tonight."
The second day Celebeth comes back a little bit bruised after having crawled all over the shore looking for useful odds and ends, whether that means crab for dinner or supplies washed up.
"I did find one useful thing," she says as the group goes over their successes. "My sword!"
Though she has no scabbard any more, Celebeth holds up an elegant rapier with an ornate basket hilt. It gleams in the evening light, and in spite of having spent a day or more in seawater it shows not a speck of rust.
"While it's mostly good for stabbing, I can probably use the edge to do a little bit of carving," she says.
Sure enough, with a bundle of sticks and grasses, she starts shaving down some branches into simple sharpened sticks.
"Given time I could make some arrows and a bow," she says, "or some traps that we could use to catch game, or protect our camp from... whatever's out there."