Fareeda watching in stunned silence as Jibril hectors the wild man to the point of running off.  When she finds her voice again, it is laden with fury, "damn it Jibril, what did you do that for?  We might need every able body available to us, and yet you had to be such an incredible ass to him, to the point of driving him away.  He helped us and befriended us, and this is your idea of repayment?"

"Ask your god to grant you the wisdom to know when to shut up.  If not, the next time you may provoke a fight with someone who'd rather attack you than just leave.  And don't expect anyone else to rush to your aid if you do."

Having vented, she moves as far away as possible from Jibril and patently ignores him, paying far more heed to Abbas' elven lore than she actually had any real interest in knowing.

Thaniel turns to Fareeda while waiting for an answer from the professor. "I am thankful to Jibril, if he is the one who banished the creature. It was as likely to eat us in our sleep as help us, and it had the presence of mind and wit to be insulting. Beware of belligerent creatures bearing gifts," he adds before turning back to the professor.

In reply to Thaniel (msg #456):

Krogan shook his head at Thaniel.
Not at all.  It would have only eaten Jibril in our sleep, then it would have been violently ill and left, since it would have assumed we all tasted that bad.

He grinned playfully at the cleric.

"Sour or bitter?" Lambrac added after Krogan. He looked out to the jungle, but Zane was well gone. It was sad. Surely some tragedy had forced that man to dwell in such a brutal environment, losing all that made him human and civilised. He'd had a chance to regain what he'd lost, but now that was gone. All because of the priest's intolerance. "Jibril, you're an arse. And you too, Thaniel." he stated.

Taking his food, he stalked off around the deck of the Scilander to examine the state of the repairs and new construction. By Gond, he hoped this boat could be back in the air soon.

Jibril lets most of the insults and jibes fall on deaf ears, but he couldn't resist giving Fareeda a broad smile and replying to her.

"You should be thanking me.  The way the wild man was leering at you, it was only a matter of time before he whisked you away to some cave, where you would have been gnawing on bones and wearing a leopard skin diaper."

He returned his attention back to Asha and Abbas, who had engaged him in more serious comments about the apparent tomb.

"Well first of all, Asha, it seems we're dealing with the undead versus the dead, given what we all have seen and heard.  How that fits into your world view, I'm not very sure."

He then gives the elf a thoughtful gaze. "Does that answer my question? Somewhat. You Elves are an interesting lot, without a doubt. The tomb, monolith, whatever it is was certainly well designed and warded. We all heard that horrific wail. Something there doesn't want to be disturbed, and I, for one, hope it's not a banshee.  But Krogan's theory is worth considering. If the Professor concurs, maybe there is some knowledge inside of there that will help us with our original mission. However, it doesn't make it any less dangerous to explore."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:04, Wed 22 Feb 2012.

The Professor listened carefully to what each of his chosen adventurers had to say, nodding as they spoke of the secluded waterfall and brows raising as they mentioned the elven tomb. Inevitably the disparaging of information soon turned to bickering amongst the party as weary minds and frayed tempers clashed like the waves somewhere back over the stern.

Grunting, he waved his hand dismissively, "Enough", he snapped, "I have no concern with your petty feuds. We can ill afford to argue in this place, band together or this ship will become our grave marker".

He paced along the ship's length, cane tapping the deck, gaze fixed on the now dark and foreboding tree line. With dusk, the jungle's volume levels had increased tenfold and a cacophony of different sounds washed over the ship.

He seemed to think for a moment before speaking; "This tomb sounds interesting I'll warrant. The elves of Chult are a race so ancient the high kings of Evermeet would be as children to them. Mm. Not to mention the doubtless archaeological and anthropological discoveries that would await us inside!"

Hingleswip shook his head, "Not yet". He smiled at the disappointed frowns forming on many faces, "There is still too much yet to do. The repair of the ship must take priority - as well as the locating of resources to survive. You have all done well to find our water source,  I am most pleased with our progress. Tonight we can rest easy but tomorrow the hard work begins anew".

He gestured behind him at the odd contraption he had been working on, "My new burner" he proclaimed, grinning, "Primitive, granted, but it should suit its purpose. With it we can start to restore the decimated engines and regain some functionality of the Scilandar's base capacity".

Turning, he looked hard at the group, "My girl will fly again. I guarantee it".

"Before we can even think about tomb raiding or exploration or anything similar, I need fuel. Dry timber. You won't find it on the jungle floor or high above in the canopy. This place sees more rainfall than Impiltur and you'll need to think outside the box to find it" he paused, returning to his thoughts for a moment before speaking again, "These cliffs are riddled with cave systems - that might be the best bet. Old driftwood, dead trees, petrified roots - anything that looks dry.

My assistants and I will continue repairs on the ship in the mean time. We have stripped her bare of anything none essential and the balloon compartments are all at a decent functionality", he sniffed and nodded, "For now, rest, eat, relax - you are all tired I know. The jungle will take its toll but we must adapt. That is the key to surviving here. Forget the inhibitions our modern society has placed upon you. That strange wild man is a mystery but at least it shows us that Chult can be survived, but nature must be made an ally, not an enemy".

He clapped his hands with joy on seeing Asha's catch, "Ham! We have a treat! Get cooking".

He put a hand on his niece Linni's shoulder and lead her away from the rest of the group, their conversation shrouded by the jungle's racket.

Krogan was disappointed in not going back to the tomb, but surviving in the woods was something he was very accustomed to.   Nodding, he sat down to eat, and began to feel better.
So, professor, I'm assuming that you wanted us to wait for morning to look for wood?
His darkvision, even tempered by all his time in the sun, would let him continue into the night, but that also meant taking more risks than was necessary, especially since the only wealth involved was wood.

Though in a day or so he had a feeling he'd feel different, viewing dry wood as he might a gold nugget.

It was the heat, Lambrac knew. An oppressive heat and humidity that weighed down the spirits, sweat that made one constantly uncomfortable and irritable. It made tempers frayed, hot and quick. It was better to simply avoid other people, but that wasn't always a possibility.

Lambrac returned from his inspection of the burner, pleased to see the gnome engineers had indeed made some good progress on repairs. He listened to Hingleswip' fine speech, and for the first time today he wasn't annoyed by it. The professor had some good points. At least he wasn't still going on about Iscarion. There was hope yet.

"By tomorrow, a tide or two will have come in. If we didn't teleport too far from that coast, then we should find some of the things we threw overboard washing ashore. There should be some useful supplies. At the least, we can use the crates and barrels for containers." he suggested.

Fareeda settles down to the meal, hungrier than she first thought once the smell of the food comes wafting in.  "It's ironic, isn't it?  We come on this journey to find rich treasures, and instead our first real tasks are finding water and wood.  Well, at least it hasn't been uneventful despite that."

As he ate, Krogan smiled at Fareeda.
Everything is relative, my friend.  In a burning desert, a mug of stale water is worth more than a diamond the size of your fist, and on a desolate mountain top, a fire is more sought than a dragon's hoard.   And, of course, we've just started in this grand adventure, so we should start with small "treasures" and work our way up, eh?

He grinned at her, smiling at his joke.

Abbas nodded to the Professor's direction.  Certainly it did not meet the focus of the elven exploration, but having the capacity to move was certainly a high priority, and protection of the party was, in all ways, the highest import.

"The Professor and Lambrac have good suggestions.  The low region with its light bamboo would be a good source of wood-ish material if we find a nice drying location.

"Do any of you have abilities or knowledge of magics to dry out woods and ground?  Perhaps some manner of drying out chambre could be created.  Or heating/chilling magics to dry out the air?  Thaniel and Linni and I were discussing some magical structures, although most were shorter term, battle-focused.

"We will also need to consider more on the transporting of the wood.  Certainly the shorter the distance, the better.  Being able to transport downhill is also a significant consideration.

"A good meal would be appreciated indeed.  Although the skirmish was brief, the heat and humidity is quite taxing on long walks."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:50, Mon 27 Feb 2012.

"We'll need to break the bamboo up. The stalks may explode if we heat or burn them, due to expanding air in the chambers." Lambrac mused, considering the dangers and mechanics of it. "I known a few arcane cantrips that could help. A simple prestidigitation could dry out the wood, though it would be slow-going... Speaking of which," The Lantanna snapped his fingers, an unnecessary gesture but a useful little misdirection. In moments, the food was warmer and tasted better, and a cool, dry breeze oscillated around the table, starting on and lingering longest on Asha and Fareeda, to whom he gave a "you can thank me later" smile.

Krogan hefts his morning star and grinned.
Not a problem, my friend.      He nodded as well to the improvements to the food, though it was good enough before.   "Hunger is the Best Seasoning" being one of the many human expressions that he'd grown fond of over the years.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:00, Sat 25 Feb 2012.

The evening drew on around the gathered companions, their hushed conversations barely audible above the sounds of the rainforest. A pair of lanterns cast a dim light over the deck but thankfully they didn't seem to attract any unwanted attention, from biting insects or worse.

After a while, the inviting aroma of cooking meat began to drift across the deck. Appetites reawakened and before long Ham appeared, his long blonde hair tied back in a knot. His dust goggles were perched on his forehead and his wide smile never seemed to falter. In his hands he carried a tray thick with roasted venison, still sticky with juices and steaming into the night air.

"A good catch indeed", his voice was heavily accented and he was evidently not used to speaking common.

He turned to Asha; "I gave all the scraps to your friend - he seemed glad of the reward. I hope he'll be happy enough down on the ground for the night? He'll be out of our invisibility bubble but I doubt there's too much around that could threaten him!"

The man grinned again, revealing two rows of perfect teeth. There was definitely something unusual about these twins.

Krogan dug into the food, eyes narrowed with curiosity at the odd twins that the professor worked with.   He wondered sometimes if the old gnome had made them in a lab, but it seemed rude to ask.  They were certainly some unimposing golems, at any rate.

Thaniel nibbled at the collected foods, his head buried in one of his tomes. He didn't attempt to join in with any of the various conversations, his attention instead focused on the elegant and archaic script covering each page.

After some time he finished reading, stood and headed below deck, not even offering a goodnight nod.

"A fine meal, all the more interesting for the new company and surroundings.  Thank you.

"I will return shortly. I indicated to Thaniel interest in learning of his magical studies; I will return as time permits," the quiet elven warrior smiled softly and followed the silent counterpart below.  A heaviness to certain pauses indicated Abbas sensed something upset with Thaniel, but that might not be in the former's skills to cheer.

Lambrac regarded the two gnomish twins curiously, realising there was something slightly off and odd about them. Well, frankly, they were gnomes. Perhaps it was their precision or flawlessness. He too wondered if Hingleswip had skinned some constructs, and if so, where had the skin come from?

Anyway, whatever they were, they good cooks, and Lambrac tucked into the roast. Maybe it wasn't too well flavoured or spiced, out here far from a quality restaurant, but his prestidigitation spell took care of that. The meal continued in silence, surprisingly normal-seeming, and up so high in the trees, he could almost imagine that he was back home, in one of Lantan's high cliff-top towns, overlooking their (much tamer) jungles, with gnomes, sea elf-kin, inventors, a wise priest of Azuth, and a telbront dancer. Then the fanciful idea was gone. He couldn't forget that they were stranded in the harsh and unforgiving Chultan jungle, far from such civilisation, with people still strangers.

As Abbas rose and spoke of a magical discussion, Lambrac chimed in "Mind if I join you? I've dabbled in magic myself." Then again, given Thaniel withdrawn nature and Abbas's awkwardness... "Ah, never mind, elf magic's beyond me. Maybe another time."


OOC: Sense Motive 5, eh.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:10, Thu 01 Mar 2012.

"By all means, Lambrac.  The cooling magics you used for suppper were quite handy, and I would learn all I can - Thaniel has been most obliging to provide another page of magical study to consider alongside Linni's style and learning."  Abbas held at the door and nodded to Lambrac that his company would be welcome.

Lambrac shrugged. "It was just a prestidigitation. I only know cantrips." Still, he quickly finished up his meal and departed the table to see what he could learn. Whatever he could pick up to advance his magical skills would be welcome.

"Oh, he's a wild animal. I mean, quite friendly, but he'll be alright by himself for the night," Alia replied with a smile as they finished their meal.

Krogan thought the gnomes were a little odd, but he found most everyone odd.  He respected their privacy enough to not pry.   Instead, he looked at the others.
How are we doing watches?   I could take the first if no one else wanted to.

He felt invigorated by being back on the ship, and having a good meal.  His bath helped.  After a childhood of being constantly dirty, he loved baths more than just about anything.

Jibril dismissed Krogan's question. "I need my beauty sleep."

He went about arranging his mosquito netting on the lopsided deck so as to provide adequate coverage for his sleeping space.  For added measure, he sprayed himself with the insecticide he brought along. He was going to do his best not to get eaten alive in this place.

Since Zane left and her subsequent dust-up with Jibril, Fareeda became uninterested in any more conversation for the night.  She ate quickly, washed herself up, and went to bed with just a simple "good night" to the others.

It's not so much that she felt tired, but rather that she simply wanted to be alone for a while.  The heat and humidity, however, had more of a toll on her than she expected, and she had barely lain down after undressing before falling into a deep slumber.

Exeunt.