Quest #38 "Betwixt Water And Stone"

[Bluehorse]

Luther
Doesn't surprise me. Edit

Unless there's trouble, Luther will stop after about 15 minutes. OK. Do we wanna head back to Clifftown? Or do we want to meet and greet with the locals in the village?

Keg shrugs. We're here... we might as well say hello. The more they get used to seeing us the better I say. Let everyone get good and familiar so that when we stumble onto on another in the thickets it isn't such a standoff.

[gurusql]

Wake

"I agree, we are here let us not do it halfway"

[sastaz]

Amun

"Ay, Amun also agrees. Our tribes separated, so no war for territory yet anyway. We should greet with respect."

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"It's a good plan," says The Knife. "But how shall we cross the river? Last time we stumbled across an abandoned raft. I don't think we'll have that kind of luck again".

[Karaunios]

Yrias

"I agree. I'm curious about these indigenes too."

[Urson]

Luther

We'll follow the river downstream. Look for a safe place to cross.

[OGRE MAGE]

Flowing Waters
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Overcast, Warm, Buggy

In a sudden turn of events, the entire group decides that they would be better off crossing the river so they may make their presence known to the indigenous natives. Luther changes course and moves back to the riverbank instead of keeping to the relative safety of the cliff trail.

Catching glimpses of people and movement across the waterway through the misty veil as they walk, the group is sure the natives would love to meet some new friends. Strange whistling noises can barely be heard from above, but no birds show themselves as the culprits of such sounds.

Following the river to the south for a while proves that this area is anything but easy to navigate. The rough jungle grows directly up to the riverbank and there is little evidence of anyone traveling in this area before. TK is correct that no convenient means of making the dangerous crossing presents itself to the group. After about an hour of hacking at branches and vines through the thick foliage, no opportunities to make a safe crossing are found. A short distance further up, a newly constructed bamboo wall can be seen across the river. It appears to be built directly across the trail that parallels the river on the opposite bank.

Actions?

positions:
Keg (F3) AC:1 23/23
Luther (R4) AC:3 24/30
The Knife (T2) AC:4* 8/8
Wake (C1) AC:3 10/10 2/3 first
Amun (F1) AC:2 13/13
Yrias AC:5 8/8 3/3 1st RM, CL, DM 1/1 1st

[gurusql]

Wake

"We should get down the to the wall and make ourselves know to the natives."

[Karaunios]

Yrias

"In order to do that, we shall have to keep walking southwards until we find a suitable place to cross."

Maybe I should know this after the years playing here, but the river isn't wide enough to be crossed on a log used as a bridge, right?

If it's feasible, Yrias will suggest that they keep their eyes open in case they can find a fallen tree they can use.

[Jernau35]

The river is at least 40-50' wide. That's the width down at the mouth where it's possible to string a rope across and wade because it's shallow there.

[Urson]

Luther
Luther frowns. There wasn't any walls on the trail before. This smells like big trouble.
Luther moves back from the river. Let’s talk about this.

[sastaz]

Amun pulls back with Luther.

"Not wise to directly confront what can be enemy camp. One should move silently, like mountain cat, or group report back to town first, to decide."

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"We could lay down our weapons and wave to them. Try to look friendly. It might make them less suspicious of us. Especially if they already know Luther. They might send a raft across. "

"Of course, that would mean at least a couple of us would have to go across unarmed and talk to them. Personally, I don't like the idea of doing that. I'm not really a people person."

[Urson]

Luther
Luther bites his tongue- Gods love The Knife, he's such a knucklehead! Waving from across the river would be more of 'Hey! We need to be shot full of arrows!' than anything else.

[OGRE MAGE]

Flowing Waters
Starday, 27th of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Overcast, Warm, Buggy

The group pulls back into the jungle after seeing the newly constructed bamboo wall across the trail on the other side of the wide river.

They don't actually see any natives yet, so TK has nobody to wave at, but Luther is pretty sure there was a small village or storage area built in this area the area the last time he was here.

Looking around a bit more, none of the group spots an easy way to get from this wild jungle side, over to the trail on the other side of the wide waterway.

Actions?

positions:
Keg (F3) AC:1 23/23
Luther (R4) AC:3 24/30
The Knife (T2) AC:4* 8/8
Wake (C1) AC:3 10/10 2/3 first
Amun (F1) AC:2 13/13
Yrias AC:5 8/8 3/3 1st RM, CL, DM 1/1 1st

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife smiles at Luther. "Well, I'll admit that my plan wasn't flawless. By putting it out there for discussion, we were able to find that small yet critical flaw." He claps his hands. "Now then, I do have a couple of other ideas. First, we could build a raft. Keg has an axe. Of course, it would be back breaking labor and probably none of us knows how to do it properly."

"Or..." The Knife's grin gets even bigger. "This is a good one...We hack back about thirty feet of undergrowth here and stomp the earth down to make a runway. Then someone strips down to their skivvies, takes a run-up and dives in. They'd be halfway across the river before they even touched the water! Unless they actually landed on a crocodile or in the middle of some piranhas, they'd make it across no problem. Then we just toss them a rope and follow them."

"Of course, the flaw with both of these ideas is that we'd show up right in the middle of Indijun territory without an invitation. That might upset them". The Knife frowns. "Maybe we should just head back to town."

[Karaunios]

Yrias

"I ask myself if we really need to contact these indigenes now or if we can postpone it. Entering their territory without warning can be counterproductive. We should probably either go back to town or do something else. Perhaps we'll find something on our way back with which we can help the townspeople.

Sorry if you in mentioned it already but, what was your goal when you set up to explore this side of the jungle?"

[Urson]

Luther
Personally, my only plan was to see what was here, and make sure we knew about any hazards to the town.
I don't want to stir up trouble with the locals- especially since we're just a few. Let's dump the idea of getting across the river- fall back to Cliffstown and re- think.

[sastaz]

Amun agrees.

"How about finding circle of stones after group gets back? Stones were gateways? No need to cross river or wildling villages when group has gateways."

[gurusql]

Wake

"Luther you are boss."