Quest #21 "Island Hopping"

[Jernau35]

Maag

Maag jumps back down from the stone. He decides to wait and see what the trees have to say for themselves before doing the obvious thing.

So dey might be smart, but are dey sneaky? he wonders.

[Storm11]

Saracen grips his weapons and shield. I wonder how fast they are, perhaps we could put run them? If they can speak, perhaps they might be friendly?

He remains ready if the druidess doesn’t get through to them.

[wolfpack]

maybe we just move to another part of the fence.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche blinks his eyes rapidly upon exiting the cave; the sudden increase in illumination briefly blinding him and spawning several visual floating artifacts which gradually disappear as his eyes adjust. Spotting the new copse of trees just outside the lintel he blinks his eyes again, but this time the visual "artifacts" remain. "Now this is unexpected."

Andron turns to Alordan and Tlachtga, "My knowledge of botany is limited to strictly non-ambulatory trees. I sincerely hope, Mr. Alordan, that your inference this morning these are killer trees is incorrect ... no offense."

While Tlachtga addresses the congegration of trees, Andron will examine them from a discrete distance. Particularly looking for any discernable difference in height, leaf pattern, color, and bark from the other jungle trees.

[Quonundrum]

We all just new it wouldn't be so easy to leave the island

True, but I distinctly ordered a gang of minotaur.

I'd like to speak with the manager.

[Jernau35]

Maag

"Dat's wot I woz finkin' mate", says Maag, sidling up to Gramble. "Dey are smart enough to try an' block us over on dat side. But are dey sneaky enough to make it look like dey 'ave left us a way out over dere?" He discreetly nods his head towards the opposite side of the stone ring. "An den wallop us once we've climbed over back into der jungle".

[OGRE MAGE]

Back Outside The Cave
Moonday, 15th of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Sunny, Hot, Humid

The group is a little shocked to see their way is now blocked by these strange trees that seem to be able to move around of their own accord when nobody is looking. Maag starts to walk across the circle to another area when Gramble plainly states the obvious solution, the same solution they used on their last trip here. Maag scrunches up his face even more than normal and nods his head, content to see what these things might have to say before climbing up to another area.

Tlachtga announces her presence to the arboreal blockade, wondering if the trees will speak back to her. They do not, in either language. In fact, they don't appear to move at all other than when the breeze blows through their thick leaves. Saracen suggests that, if they cant move very fast, perhaps the party could simply rush past them. He doesn't attempt to test out this hypothesis, however. Crestbrook keeps his torch lit, just in case he needs to use it against this new threat to all that is good.

Andron studies the trees closely, but from a distance. They do not seem special to him in any way, though he has definitely never seen anything like them before. His comparison to the other foliage around them proves fruitless since almost every tree, bush, and fern out in this magnificent jungle looks different to him. There must be hundreds of different species of trees alone that he has noticed in his short time on these 2 islands. They are tall and have mottled, splotchy trunks. Bright green leafy vines hang down their long length, nearly all the way to the jungle floor. They also have an abundance of brownish, leafless vines that hang down everywhere, a bit higher off of the ground.

stock-photo-tree-green-plants-trees-jungle-50e3dbdc-dd69-4d05-9530-26a581757d4d.jpg (280.21 KiB) Viewed 584 times

Actions?

map:

No change

Sir Crestbrook 7/11 LoH (torch: 40'r/.4T)
Gramble 13/16
Tlachtga 8/8 0/4 1st (torch: 40'r/1.1T)
Cu AC:3 13/13
Lerrick 5/11 0/4 1st
Saracen 28/33 0/5 1st 1/2 2nd
Alordan 15/18
Andron 6/6 0/3 1st CL, DM, RM / 1/1 1st
Maag 12/12

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche hefts the bamboo pole he carries in one hand and peers intently at the trees' long leafy vines. He rubs his chin with his free hand and points to the trees beyond the lintel with one end of the pole. "Those leafy vines resemble the poisonous tendrils of a jellyfish. I wonder how they would react when brushed with the end of a pole?"

He makes no visible effort to test this theory himself however, as he glances around the group gauging their responses.

[Rex]

Tlachtga

"Well I had to try, I say we just try the other side and see just how fast they are."

[ravenn4544]

Alordan points at the vines at states, "Those things can only mean one thing - danger." He looks around for any large item - especially if there is some fruit around - to toss into the vines to see what happens.

[Storm11]

Saracen searches the area for a large log or boulder or something similar. Her will heft it from someone twenty five feet away into the trees at the exit from the clearing to see if they make any sudden moves or react in any way to inanimate objects. He will sheathe his sword and strap the shield to his back before he does so.

Upon hearing tell of the ones above he raises his eyes.

Well dang it these trees don’t learn from their last mistakes. Smarter than peoples it seems hmmm

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche sets his bamboo pole into the ground and leans heavily on it, studying the trees intently while listening to the suggestions of his colleagues. He shifts slightly to face Saracen, "The trees do appear to be intelligent, and able to plan and work in coordination", adding thoughtfully as Saracen enacts his plan, "If intelligent, they also may respond to fire."

Addressing the group now, he continues, "We could indeed bypass the trees again, but it leaves open the question on their nature. Are they intelligent? Peaceful? Hostile? If the town is to use the bounty of this island, we must be certain of its dangers. Brother Saracen can cast a spell to create water. Perhaps if we offer this as a token of friendship? The abundance of brown, leafless vines suggest they may be lacking in water."

[kruk]

Lerrick raises an eyebrow at Andron's idea. Why not? She then moves back closer to the other member of the party holding a torch. If that fails we can try to scatter them using fire. The paladin nods his head in agreement with the cleric.

[Jernau35]

Maag

Maag tries to suggest an escape route without pointing or using any other obvious body language. He faces towards the beach as he talks.

"If we climb over der rocks to my right, we can go through der jungle straight to der beach. It's almost der shortest route".

"If we go over der rocks to my left, we 'ave to take a big loop to either go back to der path or go straight to der beach."

"We could try and go between der two groups but dey might be expectin' dat".

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche, following Maag's lead, fixes his gaze upon the trees beyond the lintel as he responds. "I expect the left side would be the best choice, as although we don't know how fast these trees are able to move, that path provides the widest berth from them."

[OGRE MAGE]

Back Outside The Cave
Moonday, 15th of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Sunny, Hot, Humid

Saracen fires a rock followed by a large fallen tree branch at the stationary trees from a distance. They don't appear to notice the effort.

Maag nonchalantly suggests climbing out of the ring over the rocks in an area where the trees aren't, similar to the escape they made last time this happened. Not sure if their secretive silent eye motions are working or not, the thief climbs back up onto the stones to prepare a rope for the others to use to get out of the inner ring. The trees don't move or attempt to stop the escape in any way.

One by one, the explorers begin to climb up and over the tall standing rocks.

Actions?

map:

F16E3CE7-359C-4084-8347-4F68854F34BB.jpeg (90.14 KiB) Viewed 534 times

Sir Crestbrook 7/11 LoH (torch: 40'r/.3T)
Gramble 13/16
Tlachtga 8/8 0/4 1st (torch: 40'r/1.0T)
Cu AC:3 13/13
Lerrick 5/11 0/4 1st
Saracen 28/33 0/5 1st 1/2 2nd
Alordan 15/18
Andron 6/6 0/3 1st CL, DM, RM / 1/1 1st
Maag 12/12

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche watched with keen interest as Saracen tosses a rock, followed by a large branch into the midst of the gathered trees. He raises one eyebrow as the green, leafy vines show no movement or reaction to the projectiles. "Interesting. Perhaps their primary senses are audial and olfactory? As Maag throws down a rope for the others to climb onto the rocks, Andron turns to take one last look though the lintel, "Regardless of their sensory capabilities, they do exhibit intelligence, or at least memory, in that they remembered the route used before." He points to the section of rock the group climbed to escape the first time, now guarded by the strange trees.

After following Alordan onto the stone wall and noting no reaction from the mysterious trees, he steps over to the ranger and speaks in a hushed voice, "Mr. Alordan, I recall you mentioning that on the group's first foray to the island, before entering the cave, a small tree appeared to have moved to a spot just outside the lintel. The same area the taller trees now occupy? At the time you poured some water at the base of the tree with no visible reaction, but … what if the presence of these trees is the reaction? Assuming I'm correct that the brown vines indicate a shortage of water, perhaps they're seeking more from us?"

Andron gazes across the jungle in the direction of the beach and glances at the sun to gauge the time of day. "It doesn't appear we're in danger of pursuit by the trees ... at least, not pursuit that will overtake us. We should have time to gather fruit and meet with the boat before dusk."

[ravenn4544]

Alordan shrugs and says, "When i gave them some water before it didn't seem to spark any reaction. But I would bet coin that those hanging vines aren't friendly. Maybe they are there to keep the minotaurs at bay? If that were so, how does that fit in with what we already struggle to understand about this place? We'll need to likely add further exploration of the island to see what other clues exist."

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche nods in agreement, "Those trees are definitely an unknown factor ... and given the nature of this island, there is a significant probability they have a distinct purpose. A more thorough survey of the island itself would indeed be advisable upon our return."

[Storm11]

Saracen listens to the theories from the more vocal group members. He notes the trees do not react to new objects stimuli, but he isn’t convinced they won’t react to living bodies.

We need a powerful Druid here to identify these trees, I believe Wes is fluent with such matters. I have no more spells left with which to create water, at least until after I rest. My magic is almost spent sadly. Let us get going. I would like to purify the fruit before we give it to the residents of beach town, just to ensure it is safe to eat! We haven’t seen any living creatures eat the fruit yet have we? It’s been so long I can’t seem to recall.

He will move to climb the wall and circumnavigate the trees, and head to fruit collection duties.