Round 2, Initiative 22
Slicingsong sees that one of the cannibals has made its way down the slope to us and moves to him, trying to lance him with the razor sharp totem spear.
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Slicingsong stands protectively over Cat slowly spinning his totem spear. It emits a soft thrum as the air passes through the delicately carved channels.
"Thank you, Zag. I'm sure I could have managed it but these thorns do appear quite fierce. We could probably make swords from them if we had a mind to."
In the morning Slicingsong heads out to where we found the berries the day before and picks a large selection of them, using the front of his shirt as a makeshift carrier. "These are supposed to be quite useful in ridding a person of their need for drink. Or perhaps eliminating the effects of being without it. I suppose it doesn't really matter. How should we prepare it? A tea? Eaten straight?"
"How about a song before bed? This is another song of your people. I cannot claim to understand it. It is swift and upbeat sounding but the words seem sad, even crazy. I do not understand Chamek but it is a fun song. Tickle me pink
Pray for the people inside your head
Time is too early
Pray for the people inside your head
Don't know where I can find myself a brand new pair of ears
Pray for the people inside your head
Monsters in the valley
Pray for the people inside your head
--- In the morning, Slicingsong will return to the spot where they had found the berries the previous evening and bring them back to the camp
"I guess I missed all the excitement. Come, Faye, lean on me. I can carry you if you get tired."
Should have posted this before:
We must remember this spot. These are the viper nettles supposed to help those struggling with drink. But we have more pressing needs now. Grym, can you run? I fear we may not be able to keep to your slower speed.
"We could wait for daylight, but if it rains, all traces of the path may be lost to us. She may not have until morning to live anyway. If she lives now. I think we must track her captors immediately."
"Hmm. She should not be alone here. This island is even more dangerous than we suspected. We should see if we can find any sign or her passing."
Slicingsong hums a bit of a tune with hands outstretched to see if the defeated natives were carrying anything with magical properties.
Slicingsong chants in his own language, making vines of green energy reach for and close his wounds.
HP: 15 Two Lvl 1 spells remain.
Slicingsong, slashes desperately with the wide blade of his totem spear, hoping to finish his opponent so he can heal his wound.
Taking advantage of his advanced warning, Slicingsong charges the lone savage.
"Hmm. The trail leads mostly in the direction we were heading anyway. Let's see if we can catch up and get an explanation."
Slicingsong assists Yekskya with his examination of the campsite.
As promised, Slicingsong chants over some water, turning it into a rich golden mead for Aerys to take the edge of her addiction off.
"Hmm? Oh, yes, let us get out of the sun." Slicingsong seems distracted and as he joins the others in the shade of the jungle canopy, he sets aside his long spear and cradles the strange spear that he carries but never uses in his arms. He gently traces the carved whorls and etchings with a finger. "I left the plains that the Shoanti call home after Chelish raiders slaughtered my family and all of my tribe. I only lived because I was gone, performing funeral rites for passed hunter of the Larun Quah. Everything around me reminded my of my brother, my baby sister, my parents. Close to everyone I knew. I went to the Shackles because it was the furthest place from my home that I could afford a ship to. This is a totem spear. It is used to play the funeral dirges of my people. I have not played it since I buried my tribe. "But I could have died today because of that reticence. I knew my spear was nearly useless against walking bones but I feared to hear the sounds of my totem spear. I will not fear again. It would be a poor service to my family for me to die so foolishly." Slicingsong stands and begins whirling his totem spear in an intricate pattern moving gracefully with the soulful music. The dirge sounds like wind howling through a canyon, like a lost soul weeping in the night. It is hauntingly beautiful.
Thankful for his companion's intervention, Slicingsong steps behind Zag and thrusts again with his spear.
Slicingsong steps back to give himself rooms and tries again to stop the advancing skeleton.
The spear's point slips harmlessly between the creatures ribs without once contacting anything solid.
Slicingsong can't help but think that the wide slashing blade of his toem spear would be much more effective against the skeletal bodies. But it would be impossible to use without producing it's characteristic whistling howl and Slicingsong was simply not ready for that yet. Grimacing, he sets his long spear and prepares for the arrival of the undead.
Slicingsong follows Zag out the ship and clambers aboard.
Slicingsong wades out to about waist high to test the difficulty of the water and the chances of swimming across.
Slicingsong and his spear move to stand near Cat and Sasha to prevent the creature from attacking them.
"I also fear the swim would be too difficult for me. Let us mark it on the map. After we find the lighthouse and set up a watch for other ships, maybe we can come back and build a raft."
"We will be on the lookout for this plant. But in the meantime, you should try to have some alcohol in the evening. The shaking and sickness can get very bad."
"I cannot help but agree with Zag. If she is smart, she'll understand that her chances of reaching the lighthouse and help are far greater with us than without us. Still, the practice of one of us taking watch with one of the others is good. We will likely not be caught unawres if she plans treachery. But we'll leave that for tonight. Let us try to cover some ground today. So saying, Slicingsong gently lifts the ill gnome into his arms. "Aerys, you will have your drink when we make camp tonight. Lets cross some ground."
Overhearing the conversation with Aerys, Slicingsong approaches. "You have a weakness for drink? It is not unknown among my people. I cannot make anything stronger than beer, but if we can make progress each day, I think I can provide you with a pint each evening, so long as Zag can provide me with the water."
"Gelik cannot weigh much. Perhaps I can carry him a ways. Even if we only get in a few miles, any distance closer to the lighthouse is a distance we needn't travel before possibly sighting a ship. What if one passes a day before we get there because of this delay?"
Before bed: "An excellently prepared meal! Perhaps a Tchamek song of your people before we rest? The songs of my people seem to make poor entertainment for Tchamek and my specialty is funeral dirges anyway. I learned this in the Shackles. I think of it only because I find myself missing bread considerably. Meat is good, but the yeasty Tchamek bread or the flat bread of my people is something I find myself wishing for." Well I'm sure you're near, and I can almost smell you,
Did you learn just how I've missed you?
Cold Bread... Cold Bread... we had. Put your wine in water, pull your chips back in
Have a heart that skips a beat
Cold Bread... Cold Bread... we had.
I can live dying, I can chew my bit,
Cold Bread... Cold Bread... we had.
---------- Next morning: "If you are all well enough to travel, I think we should all proceed south. We'll follow the coast line until to starts to curve west for a bit and then go inland and see if this brown line is truly a road."
Slicingsong gets back to the beach in a clumsy sort of half-climb-half slide way. "You do climb your namesake, Cat." She shrugs back into his chain shirt and carries his share of the freshly butchered meat, wrapping in in large leaves to reduce the mess in his pack. "We should take this to our companions and make camp for the night. We can discuss with them how to proceed towards the lighthouse in the south."
Slicingsong takes off his chainshirt and stretches his muscles. "I'll try the climb. Watch my back."
Round 1 Initiative 15 Slicingsong readies his spear. If one of the creatures comes close he'll try to stab it and bring it down.
I don't know anything about Red Hand of Doom but everyone else seems really excited by it. I'd be willing to join you guys, but I also wouldn't care if you wanted to let some players who can't get their PbP on join up.
"That seems as good a plan as any, Yekskya."
Slicingsong shades his eyes with a hand and tries to discern more about the creatures in the distance.
"Yes, let's do this right. We'll travel back a different way and learn as much about this bit as possible."
"Maybe it will have more food. What we have caught today will not feed all of us."
Round 1 Initiative 13
Slicingsong pulls out his bow and nocks an arrow lightly and sets off. He's hoping to maybe flush out some game while they walk to ensure a steady food supply.
Slicingsong leaves the others to tend to the wounded and gathers up the dead snakes, decapitating and skinning them for the fire. "These will make a fine breakfast and maybe even lunch. Perhaps we will find game while we walk, as well. Have we decided in which direction to proceed? It sounded as though most wished to explore this northern tip of the island before proceeding south. Is that still your opinion after a night's rest?"
"Try not to damage them too badly. Just cut off the head if you can. Snake meat is usually quite delicious."
"Tchamek, it is other, outsider in my language. You are all tchamek. [b]So I wonder if this if tchamek thinking. The wilds are not fallen breadcrumbs on the ground, that you can just pick up the bits and put them in a bin and things are now clean. Wild lands are like water. Yes, you can block the flow of water and remove it from an area, but once you unblock it, the water just flows back in. Until we are in the lighthouse or another sturdy building, there will always be danger at our backs. That is the nature of wild lands."
"I'm not sure I understand. Is this a tchamek thing? Won't there be some part of the island at out back no matter which way we go? If we go south, at least the smallest part of the island will be behind us."
"There are thin brown lines on this map. Do you see? Could it be that there are roads from when this place was originally settled? I am not so concerned about what lies to our backs. If we make good time, we will leave it behind us. I say we make our way along this interior curve and try to get to that road at the southern part of the crescent."
"Have they no bears where you come from? Hrm, how to explain... They vary in size, some about the weight of a lion, some larger. They are broader and taller than lions, also. I am afraid I am no good at this. It is like trying to describe a color. We may wish to decide how to proceeed before we sleep, or at least discuss our choices and sleep on it to decide in the morning. From what I remember of the tales of Smuggler's Shiv, there is a lighthouse on the southern tip. Perhaps it would be best to travel directly south from here, or as directly as the beach allows."
"Perhaps we should pair one of the less well armed passengers with one of us for each watch?" Once the details of the watch order are established, Slicingsong settles down next to the fire. "Sitting next to a fire when it is so needed always reminds me of a story of my people, a story of how man came to control fire. Long ago when the world was young, Bear had Fire. He was respected by his kind and the other animals for Fire kept them warm in the winter and lit their night with its merry glow. Bear and his people took fire with them wherever they went. One day, Bear and his people came to a great forest, where they found many acorns lying on the forest floor. Bear set Fire at the edge of the forest, and he and his people began eating acorns. The acorns were crunch and crisp and tasted better than any other acorns Bear and his people had ever eaten. They wandered further and further away from Fire, eating the delicious acorns and seeking out more when the acorn supply grew low. Fire blazed up merrily for awhile, until it had burned nearly all of its wood. It started to smoke and flicker, then it dwindled down and down. Fire was alarmed. It was nearly out. 'Feed me! Feed me!' Fire shouted to Bear. But Bear and his people had wandered deep into the forest, and then did not hear Fire's cries. At that moment, Man came walking through the forest and saw the small, flickering Fire. 'Feed me! Feed me!' Fire cried in despair. 'What should I feed you?' Man asked. He had never seen Fire before. 'I eat sticks and logs and wood of all kinds,' Fire explained. Man picked up a stick and leaned it on the North side of Fire. Fire sent its orange-blue flames flickering up the side of the stick until it started to burn. Man got a second stick and laid it on the West side of the fire. Fire, nourished by the first stick, burned brighter and stretched taller and eagerly claimed the second stick. Man picked up a third stick and laid it on the south side of Fire and laid a fourth stick on the East. By this time, Fire was leaping and dancing in delight, its hunger satisfied. Man warmed himself by the blazing Fire, enjoying the changed colors and the hissing and snapping sound Fire made as it ate the wood. Man and Fire were very happy together, and Man fed Fire sticks whenever it got hungry. A long time later, Bear and his people came back to the edge of the forest, looking for Fire. Fire was angry when it saw Bear. It blazed until it was white-hot and so bright that Bear had to shade his eyes with both paws. 'I do not even know you!' Fire shouted at Bear. The terrible heat rolling of Fire drove Bear and his people away, so they could not take it and carry it away with them. The story of how Fire chased away Bear spread among all the animals of all the forests and plains and mountains and that is why animals now fear to approach Fire." Slicingsong smiles, but it is a sad smile and does not reach his eyes. "I have not told a story of my people in some time. It hurts but feels good, like stretching a muscle."
Slicingsong is always eager to learn more about the world around him and tries out Jask's mantras while waiting for dusk. By the time he's done, they've taken on a substantially different rhythm. Rather than Jask's peaceful chant, Slicingsong's stamping foot brings out a beat that stirs the body.
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