Quest #28 "Kegenstien's Expedition Over the River"

[Darklin2]

Darklin

Darklin back pedals out of the drop zone.

Anyone have a rope and grappling hook? Or an extra bow string? That one nearly finished me. My sword is down at the bottom now. Damn jungle sweat and rot. Lost my grip and threw my sword.

[Bluehorse]

Keg

Seeing they are in the danger zone again, he curses through his teeth and grabs Darklin by the scruff of his shirt and drags him backward and away.

To Elnaerel: Yeah, yeah, like I said I respect the gods and all and I am more than willing to see what they may want to do for folks out here, but I am not going to kneel to anyone and beg.

[Paladin]

Keyon

The rogue chuckles at Keg's comment. "Get enough ale down my hatch and I might," he mutters as he rummages in his pack for anything that might be useful to Darklin or for retrieving his own axe. "Depends on what I'm begging her for." He looks up with a shameless grin. "Did I say that out loud? Ah, well."

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel "There's no need to kneel. It's enough to acknowledge them when they do good and not only think of them when they do evil (like many people do)." She looks sideways to Keyon as he does his comment, and chuckles.

To Darklin, she says: "I've got a rope, but I don't see how we're gonna retrieve both your weapons withouth getting yourselves killed!"

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"Ah, rope...", The Knife sighs wistfully. "Perhaps one day I'll have enough money to buy rope." He pauses for a moment, the looks up into the trees. "Actually, there are plenty of vines here. We could use those."

The gnome continues to look up at the trees, gauging the distance between them and the cliff face. "What about fire?", he says suddenly. "Do you think if we start a fire down here and make plenty of smoke, it would block their view?" The Knife points up at the piercers. "Maybe they wouldn't drop. Or maybe they'd choke on it and crawl somewhere else".

[Bluehorse]

Keg

Takes out his big coil of rope. I've got the rope, but no hook... What if we used some bamboo or something to make a snag for that?

[OGRE MAGE]

Retrieval
Godsday, 23rd of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Hot, Humid, Buggy

After much deliberation and some serious head scratching, the gang figures out a way to use their rope and a bent branch to recover their lost weapons from the danger area, dragging them back without incident. No more of the strange monsters drop from their elevated home during this rescue.

Nearing midday now, and getting uncomfortably hot, the tattered group will need to decide where to go from this point. The quasi game trail along the base of the cliff wall continues on in a northerly direction, and they know that the river should be to the west of their current position. So far they have determined that the soil here would be far better for farming, but if the town were to be moved to this spot, it would require a good deal of work to clear an area large enough to support it. However, the timber and other foliage that needs clearing would make good building materials. Elnaerel is certain her goddess would approve of the move, even if the others aren't so sure.

Actions?

overall map:
viewtopic.php?p=366477#p366477
Keyon 3/6
Keg Woodwright 8/13
Elnaerel 6/10 1/3
The Knife 5/5
Feanol 4/4 1/1 CL, DM, RM
Darklin Sylvanas 1/8 1/1 CL, DM, RM

[Darklin2]

Darklin

Sorry Feanol I will try to take better care of you. Keep behind me and I will cover us. How is everyone's water supply holding out? I am thinking we need to refill skins before we press on up the trail any farther. If these cones were cleared out we could use the over hang for shelter and start a good sized fire to smoke the bugs away at night. But with out my bow string there is no way to clear them safely. Anyone have another bow string. I should have removed some tendons from that hog.

Shakes his head.

[Bluehorse]

Keg

Looking over their situation and grunting to himself. Either way, we are approaching that point of no return. Either we turn around soon to get back to the shelter and take our risks there with those bugs, or take a risk here with new ones. How many of those things do you see up there? I have a crossbow... I might could pick them off. We would still be exposed on three sides and I don't care much for that... or we simply press on and hope for the best. How far inland do you suppose we are now? Seems that either way we need to cut across to the river to refill our water whether we move one way or the other or not.

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel "Considering that it's our survival that's at stake here, I say we should make do with what we already know. Hoping for something better in the middle of the jungle is too risky."

[Paladin]

Keyon

"Uncharacteristic as this may be," he says, "I vote for playing it safe today. Whatever that entails. We're all either banged up or depleted in some other way, so if we take any more hard shots, it's game over." He shrugs. "I'm game for whatever. But that's my take."

[Darklin2]

Darklin

I vote we bring two tarps next time and make a makeshift camp here and extend our inland trek. If we return now and let the town know we could come back and set up stopping points all the way back here and keep pressing on. We could also buy a large pavilion tent and bring it back, that would allow us to keep treking inland as far as we want to go.

If we get to the ogres I want to take a look and see if any of the knee tendons are still there. I might be able to use one for a bowstring too.

[Ahlmzhad]

Feanol

"Forward or back? I'm not sure, but lets pick one fast and get on with it. Sitting here and debating is not going to help us."

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"Well, one part of me," The Knife coughs slightly, "says push on. It's not even noon yet. Plenty of time to explore and find a campsite."

"However, the normal, sensible, intelligent part of me...OW!" The Knife winces and grabs his temples, "says that we should at least go back to the ogres camp. Those piercer things took a lot out of us. Another surprise like that and we could end up dragging some badly wounded people instead of us all walking out of here."

He nods over at Keg. "And Keg is right. Getting back with plenty of daylight will give us time to come up with a plan for those bugs". The Knife jerks his thumb over his shoulder. "I vote back".

[Bluehorse]

Keg nods decisively. Back it is. Let's cut across to the river and have a reference point for how far in we trekked to what we already know. Fill up with water and make our way back.
I like the ideas. A return to town is something we should consider in the morning. See if we can purchase that tent and set up some way points. Come more prepared for what we know and have another crack at things. And we'll definitely visit the ogres for some bowstring. I'd say that is as good a way to get back to the lean-to anyway. Dead ogre only smells slightly better than live ones... so we'll know when we are close.

[Paladin]

Keyon

He nods and gears up, sending the Knife a glance. "You want to play scout this time, or shall I?" When all are in agreement and a course chosen, he'll set out.

[OGRE MAGE]

In Search Of More Water
Godsday, 23rd of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Rainy, Humid, Wet

Deciding to leave the relative ease and safety of the high cliff wall, the group agrees to head due west for a while, hoping to intersect with the wide river they know to be in that direction. Just as they are about to head out, the sky clouds over and it starts to rain softly, bringing them a slight reprise from the usual midday heat.

After a couple of hours of wet and difficult travel through the thick jungle, hacking their way past intense thickets, branches, ferns, and vines hanging virtually everywhere, the group eventually begins to hear the tell-tale sounds of rushing water up ahead.

In between them and this new sound stands what looks like several heaps of dirt or debris directly in their path. There are 6 such mounds, about 4 feet high or so, and they appear to have small holes in their conical tops.

termite-mound-forest-big-jungle-built-shrubs-194362638.jpg (124.42 KiB) Viewed 399 times

Actions?

overall map:
viewtopic.php?p=366477#p366477
Keyon 3/6
Keg Woodwright 8/13
Elnaerel 6/10 1/3
The Knife 5/5
Feanol 4/4 1/1 CL, DM, RM
Darklin Sylvanas 1/8 1/1 CL, DM, RM

[Darklin2]

Darklin

I will follow your lead, Keg. I am pretty bad off. A strong breeze could end me so stay alert. If we could make a raft we could shoot down the river in no time but I am not sure what lives in those pyramids. Could be giant ants, Termites, flying Fire Ants, who knows. We just need to stay away from them. First sign of danger and I am out of here.



OOC- Are their any normal trees here? Hardwoods or is everything still Bamboo?

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife studies the mounds from a safe distance. "More of these things, eh?" Well, I guess if they are just regular sized bugs and we leave them alone..." He stops. 'What about the town though? If these are termites, and we think those other mounds we saw are, would this be a good place to build? Or would termites eat the place up as fast as it was being built?"

[Bluehorse]

Keg

Nods to Darklin. I hear you. And if we can manage a raft, that would be great. As for these mounds, they seem like smaller bugs, not the giant ones like we saw back yonder. They might be a threat to wood structures, but I hear you can eat them too. Might be a good tradeoff... The natives might know... Surely they have a way of protecting their own homes from them either way. Lets give these a wide birth for now. I see no problem if we skew south a bit to avoid them, we will still be getting closer to the river and our camp on both accounts.