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The safe harbor is on the other side of the cliffs from the hags beach, so it isn't feasible to build the dock in that area.

Any good ships captain would know that you shouldn't build any structures too close to the mouth of a river, offering two other two possibilities.

A massive structure could be built across the top of the cliff above the hags cave and down the other side, closer to the natural harbor, where a dock could be constructed to reach the anchored ships. (not really practical at this point)

Or, the Beachtown dock could be reconstructed in a spot on the other side of the river from Clifftown, a short distance down the beach, but much closer to the new settlement.

The Princess finds all the people she was looking for, including her partner in trade, Nallissa.

Maag

"We are movin' dis dock down der beach to der new town", explains Maag. "So der ship can go der."

He waves his hand around, gesturing at the half-abandoned town. "Take a look at dis place. It was not much before, an' it is dyin' on it's arse now, innit, Randall? Quark told me dat der only reason 'e was comin' 'ere was because Nehru was payin' 'im. Now Nehru 'as gone, Quark was goin' to go for good. So der is not much point in 'avin' a dock 'ere.".

"I 'ave made a deal wiv 'im to come back. An' since der other town 'as more people, an' no bleedin' dwarves, I reckon dat it is der place dat 'e will want to come back to. All I 'ave to do is come up wiv some more of dem big black trees. An' a way to get dem to der dock. An' cut dem up. Which is annuver reason der dock 'as to be down der: dey 'ave got a sawmill an' dis place 'asn't".

Maag pauses to take a breath and wipe some sweat off his brow. Then a thought occurs to him. "Randall, did any of dem loggers dat cut all der trees ever drink in your place? Did yet ever 'ear any of dem talkin' about places where der trees could be found?"

Randall doesn't seem to get the logic laid out before him, but he answers the question anyway.

"Oh yesa! Dem loggers was da only ones dat drink ere arigonally. Real tirsty work cuttin dem tree all day."

He looks around at all the thugs assembled.

"So, no ship coming ere again? What will appen wit poor Randall?"

Liam

Will consider all the options and opt for the dock being placed on the opposite side of the river for now since that is the most feasible at the moment. He will begin coordinating with the builders to make preparations to get the dock in place, doing as much as of work as possible early on before the dock itself gets there.

Sorry, been sick. Getting caught up today.

Maag

Mag shrugs. "I dunno mate," he says sympathetically. "Yer a good bloke an' I definitely owe yer a few".

"But der bottom line is dat Quark is only comin' back to make money. An' right now, der only way to make money is to find those black trees for 'im to load. An dat needs a dock".

"I mean, if der are some of those trees on dis side of der island, den maybe der dock can stay 'ere. If we find dem by Clifftown, den der dock 'as to go der".

"Der other problem is dat if we found sum other fing dat Quark wants to carry from dis side of der island, is dat der dwarves might say it belongs to dem, like dey do wiv everyfink else". Maag rolls his eyes.

Randall slowly nods his head at the inevitable.

“Randall quickly runnin out of reason ta stay ere at all. Any room fi mi tavern in you new town?”

Maag

Maag grins. "Yeah, I reckon der lads would be more dan 'appy to ship yer stuff down der beach. Probably der best job dey 'ave 'ad since der town moved. Yer will 'ave to find a new tree though. Der are none on der beach down der." He thinks for a moment. "Der is a cave. Dat would be atmezsh...atsmfer...a decent place for a boozer."

Randall looks around at his bar longingly, looking up into the tree branches several times before responding.

“Cave ouse juss no have da same ring to it, jano?”

“Maybe I can come have a look before I decide. Beats starvin, mi guess.”

Maag

"Well den, jump in one of der boats den. We will take yer along wiv der dock. If yer want ter stay in Clifftown we can come back an' get yer stuff later".

Maag looks at the rest of the dock-heisters. " 'ave yer got dat fing sorted out out yet?" he calls out.

Randall nods, but continues to look back at his tree longingly. "Okay. Shoe-er. Mi guess that wood work." He puts very little confidence or emotion in his words.

The dock thieves get to work cutting the ropes that hold the floating bamboo sections of the dock in place on their pilings. It takes a good deal of time to free all the many sections from their supports, but none of the dwarves or remaining townies seem too concerned about losing the structure. In fact, nobody says a word about it to them as they work.

The boats are set up and rigged to pull the dock along the shoreline towards the river by rowing while it floats on the water, but small waves continue to beach the structure in the shallows. It looks like it may need to be pulled out further away from the beach in order to avoid the natural motion of the waves.

At some point in time when everyone is around, a shrill female scream is heard throughout the budding Clifftown, coming from the area near the river where water is now gathered.

Maag

"If we 'ave to sail further out from der beach," says Maag. "I reckon dat we should sail in a two by two square. Dat way we will all be close together if sumfin' attacks us".

OGRE MAGE wrote: ↑Thu Dec 23, 2021 3:28 pm At some point in time when everyone is around, a shrill female scream is heard throughout the budding Clifftown, coming from the area near the river where water is now gathered.

Liam looks up from his work preparing a place for the dock, and tries to see what is the cause of the alarm, running in that direction.

Maag

When the boats arrive in Clifftown, Maag helps to pull them up onto the beach along with the dock sections.

When he hears the scream, he grabs his sword and lumbers off to find out what has happened.

Once the floating bamboo dock is safely rowed all the way down the beach and set into place, all that needs to be done now is to pound several pilings into the sand under the surface that it can rest on when in use and then secure it to shore somehow.

Maag and Liam join the others at the riverbank after hearing the shrill screams. There they find a few womenfolk dragging a small body resting on a thick floating tree branch towards the shore. They are shocked to find that they recognize the waterlogged and possibly drowned figure. It is none other than their esteemed leader, Mayor Daisy. She has a thick bundle of reeds half wrapped around her neck as some kind of jungle-made floatation device that has kept her head above the water, but they cant tell if she is still breathing yet or not.

By the look of her wrinkled, battered body, things aren't looking so good for the spunky halfling. What is even more unusual is that they don't see her normal shadow anywhere nearby, her prized war badger Sophie is nowhere to be seen.

Liam rushes over and begins administering any kind of aid he can. Lay her on her side so any water in her lungs can get out without choking her. Are any of her followers here? Maybe they have learned more healing from her? he rushes off to find one of them and get more knowledgable aid.

Maag

Maag tears away the reeds around Daisy's neck to allow her to breathe better. When that is done, he looks over the battered halfling for any clues to how she ended up like this.

Though Daisy remains alive, barely, she has clearly been through a hellish ordeal. Maag pulls the reeds away from her neck, finding them to be quite light and not waterlogged in the least. Liam suggests turning her to the side so she can puke out any water she may have swallowed.

In time, they get her dried off and into a more comfortable setting, still wondering what befell the lone halfling who left town recently with Allissa and her new cohorts. If they have had anything to do with this, there is no indication as such.

Daisy remains unconscious and will until she receives some magical healing or enough time has passed for her to heal naturally, but at least she remains alive.

She offers no indication as to what may have happened to her, and Sophie's disappearance remains a mystery as well.

Once Daisy has been settled comfortably, Maag turns to Liam. "If der Indijuns did dis to 'er, we could 'ave a big problem comin' our way. Didn't she leave 'ere wiv three other people? Wot 'as 'appened to dem? Do yer reckon dat der Indijuns could be comin' to attack us?"

"Even if dey are not comin' to attack us, dis could be bad news. I woz finkin' dat it would be good to go an talk to dem about der black trees. Dey 'ave to know where to find dem. But if der Indijuns are 'ostile, we are never goin' to find any. An' der trees are der only fing dat are goin' to keep Quark comin' back."