Chapter 1: After the Storm

[Longman]

I have edited Sonja - who I suspect is now my NPC. This is what she left behind in the backpack. (Most of the good stuff, she took in a sack or on her body).

Backpack - left behind...
- Sword oil (1gp, 0.5#)
- Tankard (quality) (24sp, 1#)
- Whetstone (1gp, 1#)
- Scroll case (1gp, 0.5#)
- 10 sheets of paper (1gp, -)
- Writing ink and quill (8gp, -)
- 50' silk rope (10gp, 2#)
- Grappling hook (2gp, 4#)
- Spare clothes (Courtier + adventurer) (50gp, 10#)
- Soap, perfume, etc (6gp, -)
- Dog food (-, 10#)
- Dinosaur horns (3)

ATTN:

You move campsite away from the source of the fireburst a way.

The rest of the night passes uneventfully.

It is now 6am on the morning of day 5 and the sun is coming up. No one gets any hit points back.

You need to decide what to do.

Saracen - you have a problem. Apart from being badly injured, that is. You told Altair to look for you in the desert. If he doesn't find you there, he will look back in your previous campsite, which is about a mile away now. If he doesn't find you there...he will have no idea where to look. The more he flies around the more a chance of an encounter for him. You are expecting him around mid-morning. The rest of the group now seem to be heading back into the jungle. What are you going to do about this? Your familiar's life is on the line.

[quozl]

While travelling, Yuan-Cheng attempts to work out a system of sign language among the natives.

[MevlyTM]

It is now 6am on the morning of day 5 and the sun is coming up. No one gets any hit points back.

OOC: Do we recover spells?

DM response - Yes, all spells back.

[mTeasdale]

OOC : Do we recover HPs ? Dol we lose a ration ?

DM response - read the large post above re hit points. Rations: you didn't lose any.


By the way, Jaali will take Sonja's rope.

[SerGavin]

We should head back to last nights campsite, altair will find us there and tell us of the beach and the pirates. After that I think we should go with teruk to his village.

[Longman]

No one seems to be arguing with Saracen's suggestion so I'll go with it.

You wait around that morning for the bird to return and there is no sign of him until after midday, when he flies back into the old campsite looking disgruntled.

"You said you were going to be in the desert!" says Altair, shaking his feathers crossly.

He tells you the following news:

The original pirate camp is abandoned. There's signs of violence, including numerous carcasses of dead dinosaurs on the beach. One in particular was very ferocious looking, and had a big sail of spines down its back. There's also lots of broken boxes and disturbances in the sand and it looks like all hell broke loose at some point since you left.

The ship has moved - to a location on the western shore of the bay, in the desert. No sign of how this was accomplished. It is off the reef, high up on the beach, and a small number of people are working on it. Everyone else is huddled behind the dunes, in a new camp in the desert.

(Incidentally, Saracen has quite a good idea how the ship was moved, but he might not share that information).

"Oh, and I was attacked by flying lizard bat things on the way back. Me! Attacked! Do you mind!" finishes Altair.

Altair is quite affronted at the idea of being personally attacked. (He is very proud.) He says the creatures were large - much bigger than the bat mosquitoes that attacked the lowly falcon - but they were clumsy in the air and he got away. Now, he's peckish.



Do you continue to the village or does this change your plan?

[SerGavin]

thank you old friend, this information is quite valuble. Events transpired during the night and we had to move. Saracen then gives Altair some scraps of lizard meat and fills him in about the previous night. He will then relay the information to the rest of the group.

[MevlyTM]

Manu says, "It seems the pirates, or crew - if they overcame their captors, are no closer to getting the ship underway than they were before. I suggest that we make good on our promise to assist these tribesmen."

He then turns to the leader and says,"Can you take us to your village now? We would like to help free your people. Also, what can you tell me about the desert land to our north, and the ruins that lie there?"

[Longman]

"Feathery gods protect us!" says Altair as he chews on the dinosaur scraps. "I'm glad you were not killed!"

It seems the pirates...are no closer to getting the ship underway than they were before.

(The ship would take a few weeks to fix, you all estimate. Getting it out of the water is definitely a start. But certainly, it is a few weeks off sailing away.)

The villager Teruk thanks Maju. "I do appreciate this. I'm sorry there has been trouble in your group. Once my father is free, I swear to help you with these pirates that have taken over your ship. As to what lies northward...the strange desert contains a house of the ancient wizards, a place of old stones, like the temple that the witch-doctor lives in now. These wizards were the ones who made the Monkey Folk, many years ago. Stories say these wizards were pure white of skin, and some of them even had red hair! There is a legend of a magical well, that lies in the desert, an oasis. The waters give you great strength. No one from my village has been there in a generation, but some of the old folk tell us they went there and became mighty when they drank the water, for a short time. In truth, that is where we were going when we encountered you, and why we have so many empty water-skins with us. We were not hunting at all. I am sorry that I lied about that. But, now we have met you, I think we do not need to go there any more. The witch-doctor stands little chance against the fire-demon you summoned last night!"

[SerGavin]

If it could be considered wise to use him again. He didn't seem very happy the first time maju let him out.