As usual, Braxton approaches and doffs his magnificent (if somewhat spooky sometimes) hat in an elegant bow. "Braxton Horatio Wynters, at your service!" He stands with a smile. "And while I may not look it, I almost almost as much of the sea as you are, dear Koloshkora. We represent a coalition of settlers and explorers from the young colony of Talamdor's Bounty, to the southwest." He explains. "We come originally from the continents far to the east - explorers, scientists, and some who were perhaps a little lost in the crowd on the mainland - all for different reasons, but all looking for a new start. Importantly, we come in peace! We've already made friends with the grindylow tribe not far off the coast from where we've settled, as well as some lovely ladies of various inanimate material near some old tower. But we are not the first of our kind that came here, and that is the main reason we are seeking you, or anyone else native to this land, out. Our predecessors, who arrived mere weeks before we did, have disappeared! We've found a few, slain, and a few more who were captured by the weird goblin... type... creatures of the tower, but the majority of our kin remain missing, and the survivors we've recovered have no answers." He waves dismissively. "But it's not proper manners to drown you in our sorrowful stories or for us to make demands of you as we've only met. What can we do for you?"
“Ooh, your hand is so slimy!” Ankha giggles as they shake hands. “But I like slimy!” she hastens to add, awkwardly holding onto the stranger’s hand longer than she should to emphasize that her comment wasn’t meant to be an insult.
She steps back, obviously glad when Braxton rescues her by taking center stage. But when the brewmaster brings up the topic of trying to find the missing colonists, she can’t help excitedly interjecting. “Ooh, yes! You haven’t seen any others like us, have you? Maybe a smaller version of me, almost like a child, who’s almost as dashing as Braxton here? A halfling by the name of Fandrik? Ooh, and have you heard anything about a sunken laboratory filled with ancient Azlanti technology? It’s …”
Braxton’s last words finally register in her mind and the alchemist stops, blushing furiously. “Sorry … I mean, we’d love to help you out. Maybe we can do something about those sea devils—I mean, sahuagin—that are bothering you?”
Becky remains mostly silent, doffing the hat Braxton gave her before bowing to Koloshkora. "I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance."
Far from the most talkative of the group, Ku'Hania simply observes the exchange.
Koloshkora smiles widely as Braxton introduces himself, clearly impressed with his manners. She bows back to him after playfully pulling her hand away from Ankha's inspection.
But we are not the first of our kind that came here, and that is the main reason we are seeking you, or anyone else native to this land, out.
"When word first arrived to my ears of the colony, I brought our little hunting party to the shore to trade with the first wave of colonists you mention. However, when we arrived, we found Talmandor’s Bounty mysteriously empty. I don’t know what happened to the original settlers, although obviously the island is a very dangerous place. It's a shame, I was hoping you had some info on what was going on there." she says, shaking her head in disappointment.
What can we do for you?
Her eyes light up here, excitedly thinking over something.
"Well, I had originally planned on setting up some beneficial trade exchanges with the first colony. When that fell through, I wasn't sure if your people would send another wave. I am glad to see that they did, and would like to reopen trade talks with your colony. Unfortunately, the sahuagin, these 'sea devils', are harassing our trade caravans and we cannot establish any sort of deal while they are allowed to flourish. I entreat your help, for we are not a warlike people, and do not have the strength required to take on their tribe especially after all of our losses in the fight so far."
"Trade? Excellent!" As a merchant marine, trade is something close to Braxton's heart, and he is no unfamiliar with the monsters of the sea. The viability of their own burgeoning colony would be severly limited if trade was not in their future. "What can you tell us about these sahuagin?" Such creatures would threaten their own trade routes in the future.
Ankha nods vigorously in agreement—trade relations could help address several of Ramona’s concerns for the colony. “Are the attacks recent? How long have they been harassing your caravans, and in what numbers? And …” she glances around the small hunting camp, and then at the fishy stranger, “… do your caravans travel by land or by sea? Or both?” She naturally shifts her mentality into that of a protective guard, thinking about how to best defend against these attacks.
Koloshkora visibly brightens as you at the very least consider accepting her request for aid against the sahuagin.
"They are among the most violent and bloodthirsty of the underwater races, always pushing their wars and aggressively taking territory that does not and should not belong to them. In fact, this specific tribe pushed out a water naga our tribe had connections with, Vriskirsa, from her chosen lair and she has been living there ever since. I am sure were you to make contact with her, she would be more than willing to lend whatever aid she might give in return for her reclaiming her home."
"The sea devils live amongst a protected section of the Ershrani Reef, a jagged crescent of coral and rock shelves spanning miles of the eastern coast of Ancorato. You can imagine why Vriskirsa chose the location, easily defended and sheltered from most of what dangers the sea has to offer."
“Are the attacks recent? How long have they been harassing your caravans, and in what numbers? And …”
"Sahuagin have always pestered us wherever they find us, but this specific tribe only became a problem a couple of weeks ago. We aren't sure on their number, we only ever encounter them in their raiding parties of five to eight, sometimes accompanied by their captured vicious aquatic animals."
“… do your caravans travel by land or by sea? Or both?"
"We don't enjoy staying out of the water, and all of our trade routes are from the sea to small inland camps like this one." she says, motioning around to the collection of driftwood frames and cooking spits. "We only go farther inland when necessary to meet with people or emergencies."
Ku'Hania listens intently, calling up what she knows of the monstrous aquatic people known as the Sahuagin, her mind already made up to aid Koloshkora and her people, as much for the sake of their colony and its safety, as for thier new potential allies.
"Hmm, their home sounds quite hostile. I don't suppose you know a way of luring their armed forces on to land? A fake caravan, perhaps." Braxton is something of a swimmer, though perhaps not a good enough one to fight a war under water.
"There's likely no way to get them out of the water, unfortunately. We haven't observed them leaving the ocean for any amount of time. This fight will have to be taken to the devils themselves." she answers, shaking her head.
"Ah, well, I do not suppose you know of any local remedies that can aid us air-breathers underwater? Gill-weed, or something?"
“Hmm,” Ankha muses, “I definitely need to research a formula that will let you all breathe underwater. But maybe this Vriskirsa could help us? Aren’t water nagas some sort of ... thingy? Do you know where we could find her now?”
“Ooh, and you mentioned that the sahuagin captured aquatic animals to fight for them? What kind of animals? Do you think they’d turn on their masters and fight for us if we freed them?”
"I do believe that Vriskirsa may be able to help with that, actually. With how poor our trading has been lately, because of the obvious, there isn't much we can offer goods wise quite yet. More of a promise of future relations, you understand. But she is a water naga, yes, and may be able to assist you in that regard."
"I do not think they would turn on their captors, no, because of how brutal the animals themselves already are. Vicious sharks are their favorite pets, and the sharks are conditioned to be as bloodthirsty as their masters. I would not even attempt to free them, as they are much more likely to be free already anyway, and injure you for the attempt."
"Then we will just have to be prepared to deal with them harshly if it comes to that." Ku'Hania says resolutely.
Ankha nods in agreement. “I think our best bet is to talk to Vriskirsa first.” She looks around at the others for consensus. “Could you take us to see her?”
"I can't exactly take you there, no. It's too close to their territory and I can't risk my tribe or being away from my tribe. My apologies for that." she says, dipping her head regretfully.
"I can, however, show you on a map of the island where it is. I have been there myself, and I must say Vriskirsa is quite the beacon of hospitality if you have no bad intentions and announce yourself before approaching. Just mention you're a friend of mine, and you should be more than good to give her a visit."
She'll then mark it on your map, and describing the cave the naga lairs in now.
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“Ooh, those sahuagin really do get around if they’re living way over there and menacing you all the way over here!” Ankha exclaims. “Braxton’s right—they’ll be a problem for our colony too if they threaten that much territory.” She peers more closely at the map, tracing a stained finger from the Locathah camp towards the naga’s cave. “Maybe we can follow this long river across the middle of the island, then cut across to where Vriskirsa’s cave is?”
Would it be possible to add the location of the original deserted colony to the map?
"Is this river navigable? We have a tender. While we could take it around the coastline, it would be useful to update the rivers features. It sounds like we'll need our boat, anyways."
"Or we could just hike. I'm up for a hike!"
Ankha nods in agreement with Becky. “We’d need to go upstream for quite a while, and who knows what rapids or waterfalls are along the way. Let’s use our legs.”
"It makes sense to navigate on foot for now." Ku'Hania agrees.
As she finishes gearing up for the overland trek, Becky hunts down Braxton and gives him a quick tug on the arm.
"Aw, you'll get to try out your neat new hat one of these days!" she teases with a grin, plopping the one he gifted her onto her ginger hair.
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Koloshkora bids you goodbye as you depart her camp, wishing you luck on both the journey and in your task. Should you turn around, the locathath have already vanished beneath the ocean when you look again. Deceptively quick in the water, it seems.
The trail you have marked is a good one, it seems, as it quickly makes its way up to the river and leads directly to a shallow crossing over it. You're really getting pretty good at this whole 'navigating the island' thing, huh? Wish you could say the same for the four poor corpses draped across rocks in the shallow water ahead of you.
“Ooh,” Ankha exclaims excitedly at the sight of the corpses, “I wonder how fresh they are? I’ve been running out of body parts for some of my research. Although …” her eyes narrow as a sliver of common sense asserts itself “… that’s not really natural, is it? For them to be splayed on the rocks like that. Do you think someone put them there as some sort of warning? To mark their territory?” She cautiously examines the corpses from a distance.
Becky examines the dead bodies, trying to make some sort of awesome hypothesis so she'll sound smart. "Ah...definitely...dead."