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[Dwarmin]

To Grik!

"Night time, when no sun, safe? Safe to walk? With firesticks? You much big feast with us! Then we help Grik."

Jao's attempts to ask about specific dangers in the darkness only reveal he's afraid of 'the smelly green folks with legs tribe' that reside in this area, and he's not talking about his own people. Prodding seems to indicate that there are some sort of small groups of humanoid creatures that reside in this swamp and hunt only at night, hiding under the ground during day. He suggests they are not made of flesh like other beings (being very bad to eat), are afraid of light and heat, and that the sun actually kills them. He says they usually try to capture their victims alive, but he has no idea why-and no idea to find out firsthand.

Further questions reveal a litany of potential threats, most of which do not hunt in this immediate area, usually-ranging from hunting cats and huge diving birds, to various reptiles ranging from what are probably crocodiles (long log in water, but not log, sharp teeth big biters!) to who knows what (Big tooth stomp stomp run! Tiny arm meat gulpers!) and whatever that is (Belly slicers, smart like tribe fighters-clever killers, sharp teeth and sharp toes). All of them tend to hunt at night, he says, and most are afraid light and fire...but, not all.

[Draignean]

"He wants us to win his war. We can't, we can only die. Father Dagon didn't mention our purpose as soldier, adviser, or spy, I don't believe it particularly matters. I'm not sure we can even avoid the war, even if we never moved from this spot." Anders blinked his too-large eyes, slowly considering Emilia. "Dagon talks a lot about you. I don't understand it, but I don't think He does either."

Anders shook himself. "The point is that all we can do is die, all any of us can do is die. Honestly, in the long term, that's all anything living can do."

[UXLZ]

"Me? Why would he talk about me? What would he even have to say?"

Emilia was surprised. He talked about her? A lot? What possible reason could there be?
Though apparently the strange man and his mysterious father didn't understand it either. Odd. She'd only just met him..them?.. after all.

"If all we can do is die then we may as well try to survive. Who knows... Maybe we'll win, and surprise your father. He can't know the outcome of every situation. No such being exists."

[[Except for the DM. =P
Also, not sure how to have Emilia react to your comment there, Draig. She'd naturally be a bit surprised and curious about Anders' father apparently talking a "lot" about her but I'm not sure it's really something we could expand on yet. You might just have to respond with something vaguely like "I'm not sure, the words are quiet and unclear. Perhaps they will grow louder with time."]]

[Draignean]

[[Except for the DM. =P
Also, not sure how to have Emilia react to your comment there, Draig. She'd naturally be a bit surprised and curious about Anders' father apparently talking a "lot" about her but I'm not sure it's really something we could expand on yet. You might just have to respond with something vaguely like "I'm not sure, the words are quiet and unclear. Perhaps they will grow louder with time."]]

((This is exactly what I intended to say, the intent is more to establish Anders as the weird-guy-who-hears-voices, not to suddenly know everything about everyone.))

"He speaks, I hear the words, but it's difficult to understand... My mind, it is straightening, becoming ready to understand the final destination and purpose, but it is not ready yet. It is still difficult to make sense of his words- but perhaps one day I'll learn his interest in you."

"Imagine an ant, staring at the sky. To its mind, it is free, it cannot possibly comprehend the web of choices that stand in front of it. It believes that it can choose its own path, its own destiny, but that is because its window on the world is minuscule in scale. Imagine now that ant is on an island, and that you are on a boat, watching the island sink into the sea. You are not all-powerful. You are not omniscient. Yet it takes the most trivial intellect to understand there is nothing that ant can do but die." A smile quirked Anders' too-wide mouth. "Compared to Father Dagon and Mother Hydra, we are all ants. We cannot see that we float on islands suspended in the web of fate, we cannot feel them sink, but They can."

[UXLZ]

"If your father is interested in me, I'm not sure whether to be honored or terrified, glad or disgusted. If there is an ant on an island which is destined to sink, and Father Dagon watches from a boat... What then if a Raven swoops from the sky to save it? What if the drowning ant learns to swim? Most ants might die... But I do not think we are most ants."

Emilia smiled somewhat, too. Bitterly, though Anders probably couldn't tell. Really, it wasn't right for her to speak of such things, and in such a way. Her parents were retired scholars, she was graced with a better education than most. Graced with a better everything than most... It was almost ridiculous. Laughable. Sad. A talent for swordplay. A talent for singing. A talent for magic. Beauty, dexterity, a strong will... So many blessings and gifts, but why? By all rights it was a miracle she was even alive. Her parents had told her how they'd found her. What was she here for?

She needed to know, so she would not allow herself to die here, on an unknown island, with so many things unanswered... Besides, she had something the strange man didn't know about, 'nor perhaps his father too. A protector of sorts, a presence she could always almost feel, the soft flutter of wings, watching her. She did not know what it was or why it watched over her, but it was, undoubtedly, there.

[[I've realllly got to be careful with this character. It seems soooo easy to slip into Mary Sue mode with Celestial-born. So part of what I want to do is make Emilia fully aware how insanely lucky she is. 'Cause, let's be honest - Insanely beautiful, great fighter, quite intelligent, magically talented, divine protection, is a pretty crazy list. I mentioned the singing because I'm hoping for an opportunity to pop up for a Dirge.]]

[GiglameshDespair]

Once Moubu seemed to have let the conversation drop, Anders wandered over to the odd bunny-eared creature that helped him earlier.

"Can you make me... sparkle, again?"

"No problem!"

Cast regeneration - and thus sparkles - on Anders again.

The moon fairy smiled.
"Everything's better when it sparkles."
Her smile faded slightly as she turned her focus to the main topic.
"I do think we should hop along, though. The flying monkey wasp things might come back, and in greater numbers, and I don't think they'd be very friendly at all. We should just follow Mr Frog for now, maybe."

[Draignean]

"Thank you," Anders said, meaning it quite sincerely. She was another odd looking creature, as different from the others as he himself was. Though something told Anders that their differences, were, for lack of a better word, very different. Anders waited until the bump on his head healed completely, carrying along with the others, and when he felt in perfect health, drove his own dagger into his side in order to re-experience and more deeply examine the feeling of his life slipping away while simultaneously being restored.

Go along with the others. Wait until Rabbit's magic fully regenerates me, then use dagger to inflict Persistent Damage I on myself in a manner that doesn't impede my ability to walk. Meditate upon this strange feeling of life/death as we continue forwards.

[UXLZ]

In whatever downtime might show up at any point, unless I change this to otherwise, Emilia plays/practices with her telekinesis and practices sword sequences.

As the group were wandering further into the jungle, Emilia suddenly remembered something.

"Come to think of it, did anyone check the shipwreck for other survivors? I don't know how it slipped my mind, but I didn't. Did any of you?"

[Criptfeind]

"I was somewhat more occupied by the screams coming from our little friend here at the time. Perhaps now that that situation is resolved we should head back to the beach and check?"

[UXLZ]

"Just one problem... Where is the beach?"

[Criptfeind]

Moubu grunts with a shrug, pointing back the way they came. "Probably still that way." He says with a slight incredulous edge to his voice.

Seeing that everyone else seemed to be antsy to get a move on and not stay here, Moubu decided to focus his efforts on finishing butchering the monkeybees for parts. Taking out his greatsword he started sawing though the tough Chitten, putting aside any body parts that seemed useful and collecting a pile of their meat. Moubu supposed if they couldn't take the time to camp and cook, he could at least eat the meat raw as a snack when they went on their way.

since no one else seems to be interested, I'll take the rest of the Chitin and Wings and Venom I guess. Also gather up all dat tasty meat, if nothing else Moubu and the other meat eaters can have snack on their way to wherever we end up going.

[Dwarmin]

"Just one problem... Where is the beach?"

You can still hear the waves washing against the beach some ways to the South.

[UXLZ]

As the sound of the waves crashing into the shore reaches her ears, Emilia frowns, somewhat embarrassed. Her sense of direction had never been one of her strong points... But this stumble was just ridiculous.

"Ah..."

[[...Maybe Dwarm should add "Shitty Sense of Direction" to Emilia's flaw list. xD]]

[ATHATH]

Balecar pops back into reality.

"What'd I miss?"

The skeleton didn't start with any equipment- he's an unarmed/unarmored specialist.

I thought that the main advantage of having the skeleton as a companion would be that it wouldn't be mindless.

Sorry for my absence for the past 5 or so pages. What's happened?

[GiglameshDespair]

The party follows the white rabbit, barring any complaints, so hang out with the frog until morning then.