Once Ommera indicates, she's ready, Ma'oa coils the rope over her shoulder, and spear in hand, dives into the water, swimming effortlessly down toward the overturned boat, keeping a sharp eye out for danger.
Ommerra leaves her heavy equipment on the dock and fits her diving goggles over her eyes. With a nod to Ma'oa, she dives into the water and swims down to the bottom-- not as competently as her shapechanging friend, of course, but she tries to make a good showing. Once there, she looks around carefully to see if there are any signs near or around the capsized vessel.
Mo'oa and Ommerra dive down to the submerged canoe which lies half buried in the sand. Struggling they manage to raise the tiny boat, where with the help of the others they manage to get the boat up onto the pier. Once you are able to examine it properly you ascertain that the canoe is of relatively recent construction, definitely made by someone from the colony. Everyone also notices the gaping hole in the bottom, as if had struck a rock or other obstacle.
You notice that the hole was made from the inside of the boat and that some type of tool or weapon was used to make it
Petre takes a look at the boat.
"Yeah, that's a hole. Big one, too. Any idea what made it?"
"I am not certain," Ommerra says. "But based on the angle of the entry point into the structure, the hole was made from inside the boat, with some kind of heavy piercing weapon or tool. A pick-axe, maybe? This suggests to me that someone sunk the canoe deliberately, probably from here on the dock. It's not a conclusive sign of sabotage, but it is something to consider as we explore the colony further."
Aleece glances at the damaged boat and listens. "Maybe pull it up on the sand? We might want to fix it.... Later."
She takes the rope to pull it along the dock and on to the beach. Once there she stops to look around.
Tiye frowns at the hole in the boat. "How odd. Was an enemy trying to prevent the colonists from fleeing, or were the colonists trying to ensure that someone- or something- didn't leave the island?" Although this is only a canoe. How far could someone really get in a canoe?
[b"Definitely something to keep track of, and yes if we can fix it, It will be useful to have another boat."[/b] Ma'Oa says, taking up her spear after dragging the boat onto the beach and turning to face the island.
As you beach the small canoe on the shore you look around to find that whatever footprints there may have been have been erased by wind and wave. Across the bay you can hear the sounds of the Peregrine preparing to weigh anchor and sail to the secondary landing point.
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Aleece shoulders her pack. "Well, we knew there wouldn't be a welcoming party. Guess we should find a place to stow gear and stay while we search here and figure out what happened."
Petre nods at Aleece. "Sounds like a plan. I would start with the town, in case there's someone still hiding out there. Otherwise, I can't see the threat if it's abandoned."
"We have quite a bit of daylight left, so might as well check out as much as we can before settling somewhere." Ma'oa agrees.
Ommerra nods, still distracted slightly as she ponders the ramifications of the sunken canoe. "Yes, of course," she chirps. "Let's see if we can figure out what happened here. I'd suggest leaving our equipment here on the beach, above the tide, so that we can see it easily from the settlement." She looks around, and adds, "And see if any others approach it."
Aleece sets her pack with the others. ”Good strategy. I was just thinking of a good place to stow my pack so I wouldn’t have to carry it while we searched the town. Using them as a lure makes good sense.”
Tiye hesitates, but decides that Ommerra has a point. She finds a decent sized bit of salt scrub and shoves her pack under a bush. Hopefully nothing will happen to the contents while they investigate. All of her worldly belongings are either in the pack or on her person.
With your gear safely stowed you move up the slight incline to the settlement proper. The well worn path leads to a cluster of buildings arranged in a triangle pattern with each point ending in a circular enclosure with rectangular notches cut intermittently along the top, like battlements. Only the southeast section of the wall is complete and obviously unfinished along the other two sections.
The grass around the settlement appears to have been cut back once upon a time but has begun to regrow in spots along the paths between buildings. To the south of the main path several pavilion tents lie in a state of neglect. Five of the tents have collapsed with the other two leaning perilously close to suffering the same fate.
Further to the east are several cottages lining the well worn "street" between them, while five communal gardens are scattered among them currently going to seed.
Ommerra looks ahead. "Maybe we should start in the center of the settlement? If anyone's still here, it stands to reason they'd be where they are most protected, and it might be that those areas are where we would find clues to suggest why the inhabitants deserted the colony and where they might have gone."
She casts a glance around for movement among the buildings as she suggests a course of action.
Aleece agrees, but adds, ”Sure. But we might as well glance into the buildings we pass getting there.”
An experienced traveler, Petre carries all his belongings on his person.
As the party proceeds toward the settlement, he spends his time scanning the surroundings, taking in details.
Tiye follows the rest of the party, eyes and ears sharp for anything out of place.
Petre inspects the building that looks like an abandoned smithy.
"There's still some residue here. Looks like the blacksmith may have been in the middle of working, because things haven't been cleaned properly."
He runs his index the chimney. "I'd say it's been a bit more than a week since the forge was last fired up."
This L-shaped building is constructed of mud bricks on a wooden frame. The western portion is of the structure is enclosed by four walls. This section has a single open window on the south side, with a canvas curtain hung across the opening. The single entrance is a wooden door, standing slightly ajar, on the southern end of the eastern face of the building. A ten-foot extension connects to the building on the east side.
This extension has only a northern wall and is otherwise just a roof sheltering the space below, which is open to the outside. Underneath this cover is a forge with an exhaust flue directly above it, a worktable covered in metal scraps, a small tub of black water, and a partially sheltered anvil.
Judging by the amount of soot and the condition of the dunk bucket you feel as though the forge hasn't been fired up in over a week.
Aleece looks around shaking her head. "Would a smith leave the anvil behind?"
"This seems like more evidence that the colonists were removed by an outside agent, rather than choosing to abandon the colony themselves," Ommerra whispers, looking around nervously. "Unless there was some emergency that required them to drop everything and run."
"Yes, if this was voluntary, it must have been sudden, and urgent." Ma'oa agrees.
Tiye nods, frowning at the deserted forge. "A smith's tools are their livelihood. They would not have left them behind, not in a place where such things cannot be replaced, unless the alternative was certain death."
"So shall we head straight to the main building?" Ma'oa asks, gesturing up ahead toward the larger main structure , "Or work our way around from the top?"
"Where else are we most likely to find survivors, or records left behind by those leaving?" Ommerra suggests.
"We don't have a lot of time at the moment," Peter responds. "Let's stick to the area around the main building and see what we turn up."
Aleece looks around. "Wherever there might be records. The main building. The home of the leader here, if we can figure that out. A temple or chapel if they had built one? We aren't seeing signs of battle. So either they left willingly, possibly figuring they could come back? Or they were tricked. I can't believe they were all killed and the whole area cleaned up of any signs."
Tiye nods to Aleece. "A sound plan. I suggest that we search the entire village after we have examined the leader's home and temple, though. There's no telling where someone may have left a clue."