The harbor at Lighttree isn’t like the other bustling ports of the world.  The Greenwood Elves didn’t put the market at the harbor.  The harbor is just a place for ships to anchor: walkways and log pilings, ships bobbing, seagulls watching the work being done.  All of the commercial activity that happens dockside elsewhere is at Lighttree’s markets, not here.  It makes boarding and preparing to shove off a little quieter, and a little more obvious.

The younger Mountain Elves know that in the eyes of older Mountain Elves, they are embarking on a fool’s endeavor.

“We weren’t strong enough then, we aren’t strong enough now.  Build a life, and have a big family with many children, the way Humans do, and teach them, and maybe then someday.”  That was the advice Jiri had received, several times, from older family members.

The fact that the Elves were forcibly ejected from the very place Jiri wants to go now gnaws slightly at Lanis, the master of the Irolando, as they set sail.

Something I am wondering… when the Mountain Elf Kingdom was conquered, there was a conquering army, yes?  Goblins and Hobgoblins and their allies and creatures under their control, you’ve said.  How can you be sure we’re not sailing into a hostile fortress?”

“I can’t be sure,” Jiri says.  “I don’t know.  But I have spent years asking questions of mariners, digging up every scrap.  At the entrance to the harbor is a place called Black Vent Watch.  Elves used that place to watch the sea.  In the years since, other ships have sailed that straight, though if they entered the harbor I do not know.  I have talked to mariners, they never said they saw any Goblins on Black Vent Watch.  So the Goblins do not watch the sea.  Maybe they do not watch the harbor at all.”

Lanis scours the map for a “Plan B”, where to land the explorers if the harbor is too hostile.

The little ship bobs out of Lighttree Harbor, headed north towards the last home of the Mountain Elves.

Varis stands on deck watching as the final preparations are made, watching the crew and the Harbor. As they move away from the docks he moves closer to Jiri stopping a few feet away. "Well, it begins. We take the first step, soon we will know more than we did before. I don't know what we will find, but I am sure it will be different than we expect. Still, first step back!"

After storing his supplies Rolen makes his way above decks to the aft of the ship; trying to stay out of the crew's way as the little ship sets sail out of Lighttree harbor.  Looking back at the town Rolen reflects on his time spent there and the memories that go with it; the good, bad, and ugly memories.  May we never regret this choice.  Let this small band of heroes lead future generations towards a new destiny; a new dream. May fortune favor the foolish. He thinks to himself as the lights and buildings of the town and its harbor slowly vanish from sight.

Lipika climbed the gang plank and looked around at the bustle of the sailors.  She tried to stay out of the way as she made her way below decks to stow her pack.  Back on deck she joined the others.  "Well, this is it," she said, nervous and giddy looking back at the harbor as the ship pulled away.

They leave in the morning, a usual thing, to maximize daylight sailing.  Elven fishing boats are scattered around.  The Greenwood Elves may not be fond of the sea as a whole, but in every large group there are exceptions, and of course those exceptions that want to take up ocean fishing end up in Lighttree.  There are dozens of them, thinly scattered, and they stay within sight of the Light Tree.  Closer to shore, there are boats harvesting shellfish.

There is also a large ship from the Rajanates.  It’s going the same way.  Jiri actually considered that ship, but they did not to break from their routine to indulge one peculiar Elf woman.

“Also, the sailors were not friendly or welcoming,” she says.  “But the Irolando is a good ship and crew.”

The Rajanates ship begins to slowly fall behind, not being as quick as the Irolando.  All morning, neither vessel makes great progress, as they are fighting the wind, but by afternoon the wind is behind them and they are making good speed.

By late afternoon they have left the furthest of the Lightree fishing fleet behind, the tree itself is just a point on the horizon.  By sunset they are off the coast of the Flooded Forest, known for mile after mile of cypress trees growing in a dense, wet maze.   It makes a natural barrier to the kingdom of the Greenwood Elves, though they very rarely come that far on hunting expeditions.  This night, they stay far from the dark coast.  The crew takes shifts on the sails, trimming and adjusting as needed.  The Rajanates ship lags further behind.

In the morning they pass another vessel, one of those lean, quick Honoan catamarans, going in the other direction.  They are in the strait that separates the very large Honoan island of Nakai from the mainland.  It’s one of those “gaps in  civilization” so common in the Southlands- people are scattered thinly, and here, 200 miles separates Lighttree from the next oasis of civilization. Matapua.

Another day of travel puts the ship much closer- they are running ahead of schedule and Lanis realizes that if this keeps up they will arrive in darkness, which is something he definitely does not want to do.  Off the Crocodile River, with the lights of the Honoan town of Matapua in the distance, he has the sails partially furled.  The ship catches less wind, now.  Assume things keep up, in the morning, they will be at Mount Keru.

During the voyage Rolen asks the captain for any information he is willing to part with are the waters and area near the Black Vent Watch to get a feel of what to expect once the group makes landfall in the next few days.  He says in conversation, "I had heard that Mt Keru and the surrounding area was created by a volcano in the area if the rumors are true.  Have you had any oppoturnities for commerce in the area, captain?  I would be curious to know what raw materials would be in demand to the settlements in the nearby areas.  Any advice?"

Oda tries to make herself of use to the crew. She will help attend to any illness or injury and even roll up her sleeves and help in the work of maintaining the ship (all those low skill tasks that the crewmembers were less excited about doing).

Varis does his best to stay out of the way of the crew, knowing that interfering with their duties is the surest way to anger the captain. Still he watches what he can, and listes when they talk of their travels, especially anything about their target destination.

As they grow closer he can often be found at the railing near the bow of the ship looking ahead for what awaits them.

The crew appreciates Oda's help!  Quickly, she becomes honorary crew on the Irolando, the "favorite passenger".

But there is little time left to enjoy that status.

The ship enters the waters off the coast of Mount Keru.

It's not well traveled here, not even the captain of the Irolando is familiar with it, and there are good reasons for that.  The waters are treacherous.

Off the coast of Mount Keru, to the ship's right is an island with an active volcano.  You can see the large gash of gray-black, and the wisps of smoke.  The region is volcanic in origin.  Past eruptions have left dangerous shoals of sharp rocks, and off of the mouth of the Kilon River, a less dangerous but still problematic shoal of sand and mud.

The Irolando threads between these, before turning into the harbor.

The large natural harbor features the Black Vent Watch at the mouth.  This is named for another volcanic feature, though one that, as the Elves know, hasn't been of the active lava spewing kind.

But that seems to have changed.  Part of the steep rocky slope of the Watch is covered by a fresh curtain of black stone.  There is a mountain trail cut into part of it, but it vanishes when it meets that black flow.

This is the part Lanis feared the most.  Would they be sailing into a port full of Goblins who would rain arrows down on them?

No sign of them... or anything moving.  Until the approach the inner harbor, and the quay, which is the long stretch of raised embankment alongside which boats would tie up.  There are arches and pergolas of white wood along it, and beyond, Elven buildings scattered along the mountain slope. In the water at the side of the quay, the half sunk remains of a vessel that didn't make it out.

As the Irolando approaches, the party can see movement on the quay.  Then you see them- the local welcome.  It's a troop of monkeys.  Macaques, swarming along the quay, possibly curious about the approaching vessel.  The are not individually very frightening- the larger males are about 30-40 pounds each- but there are dozens of them and they look like they could do some damage if they put their monkey minds to it.

They hoot, and screech, and Lanis asks if the party has a Druid.

Varis shakes his head to Lanis's question. "Not I, my skills are more Arcane in nature, though I have studied the wildlife and ecology of this area."

Looking over the railing and past the water to the docks the sight of the monkey swarms make him both nervous and intrigued. "They look like little threat individually, but together...Let me try and remember what I know."

OOC:10:30, Today: Varis Nailo rolled 19 using 1d20+5.  Nature roll on monkeys.

The Irolando pulls alongside the quay, in an "important" looking area, where there are stairs up to the terraces higher on the slope.  In the middle of the stairs there is a "slideway", a smooth ramp where cargo could be hauled up or down on carts, instead of lugging it over the stairs.

At the bottom, aside from the quay and the pergolas along the length of it, a few buildings that look like they might have been warehouses.  Higher up, a building with a watchtower, and others that were likely residences, taverns, etc.

Further along the quay (off to the right of the map below) there are residences at sea level, and the remains of a long sunk ship in the water.

The sloped ground is a mix of volcanic rock and tropical vegetation.  It is climbable although heavy armor would be a hindrance.  For they monkeys it's nothing, they scurry up and down the rocks with ease.

The monkeys seem excited, but not overly hostile.  They are not charging towards you with fangs out.  They are excited, and approaching cautiously.  The monkeys shown on the map represent the adult males, younger monkeys and female monkeys are behind them.  (Otherwise too many monkeys!)


And we have a map!

 
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:03, Thu 21 Jan 2021.

Oda frowned. She was sure she could scare the little monkeys away but that certainly wasn't the why she wanted to open if there was a better option.

"I think I could scare them-but I would rather not..." The half-orc said as she began to collect her things in preparation for disembarking.

Seeing the monkey's approach and their behavior so far Rolen replies to Varis and Oda, "The best I could do is either put them asleep or distract them with illusions for awhile with magic.  I certainly don't have enough arrows to put them all down if needs be."

He calls forth his owl familiar and sends it up into the sky to scout ahead of the party.  While Whisper, the owl, flies around the buildings and immediate area Rolen follows Oda's lead and gathers his gear to disembark.  "I would rather not create any enemies so early on this trip or cause any undo trouble.  We are planning to be here for several days." With his things collected he is ready to go ashore and reaches out Whisper to get a status report on what the owl has seen and heard inland....

"As best I can tell from my readings, those are Sylvan Macaques. A type of monkey, they live in groups. Not predatory per say, but excitable, and inclined to try and defend when they feel threatened. From the way they are acting, they seem freaked out by the ship, probably don't see many if any."

Looking over the troop of Sylvan Macaques he shrugs. Approaching them or making a display might scare them off, or it might push them over the edge to attack. If they attach the females tend to hang back and protect the young."

Nesterin had stayed mostly to himself during the voyage from Lightree to Keru. Other than his required duties aboard ship he had spent much of the time reading Lanis's grandfathers book.

Currently he was much like the others watching the monkeys as they jumped around on the quay. They were definitely intriguing. His homeland had nothing like them.

Gathering his gear he moved to join the others that appeared to be getting ready to disembark. "I wonder if food would appease them or just make matters worse."

Lipika spent the voyage trying not to be in the way of the sailors, but the sight of land had brought her to the railing.  Her emotions ran the gamut of all kinds of excitement. At first, she was disheartened by the lava, how much damage was done to the city? she wondered.  However, the presence of buildings gave her hope.  The monkeys frightened her.  She spent her time in academic halls, and knew animals from books only. With out people, the place was probably crawling with all manner of beasts.  Panic started to rise in her heart, and she was sure it was going to jump out and swim back to Lighttree on its own.  She took a deep breath to calm herself.  You are am accomplished scolar. You can't let your emotions run wild.  You won't know the truth of the situation before exploring.

She listened Varis's description of the monkeys and nodded.  "They seem calm enough to be curious.  I think if we don't do anything to provoke them, we should be ok.  Lets circle past them without getting closer than we are."  She took out her crystal and spoke the magic formula to summon her mage armor which shimmered into place around her.

Rolen sends his Owl on a brief scouting trip.  It does not want to go far, but all it has to do is soar for a bit and get a good look around.

Of course this gets some shrieking from the monkeys.  You have now all heard the Sylvan Macaque “BIRD OF PREY ALERT!” warning cry.  Whisper is a particularly large or threatening owl but the monkeys are a little edgy to begin with.  They scramble for cover beneath trees or bushes or pergola supports, and for the moment, stop approaching.

The Owl makes a scouting run for its master.



It doesn't seem like the monkeys would interfere with you now.  The sudden appearance of a traditional foe has them watching the sky.

Rolen focuses his mind toward Whisper and commands, Whisper, try to get a closer look at the little green people who are close to us. He physically grabs the ship's railing to steady himself, closes his eyes, and shifts his vision and senses to his familiar. Whisper circles back around as it soars through the sky above the harbor.

Rolen says aloud to the others, "My owl familiar found several little green people who like to argue nearby. I have asked it to take a closer look to help identify their race.
 I just hope it doesn't mean there a goblin settlement nearby.  We have no idea what their intentions are towards us. There are also snakes in the trees with the monkeys and big cats higher up the mountain slopes, so stay alert.  There is also an orchard of fruit trees towards the north, so we should be able to forage for food if we need to."

Whisper makes another pass near the area where it previously saw short green argumentative humanoids.

The monkeys have retreated under tree cover, spooked by the owl.  They might not know what the ship is, but they know what birds of prey are and they know they are supposed to stay under cover when they see one.

It's just one of these you learn when you are a monkey.

The Owl returns.

Being an Owl, there are some things it finds difficult to communicate, even with the close bond of familiar to master.  There are some concepts that just aren't there in the Owl mind.

Not being familiar with Goblins, it cannot be sure the scattered things it saw were Goblins.  Humanoid and short, certainly.  Greenish, a pale green like lichen on rocks.  That it knows.  Carrying weapons.  But it can't pin "Goblin" on these any more than a typical Human can identify "which kind of mouse, exactly"?

It can confirm, though, that they are far, more than a mile, and few.  Just little groups here and there.  Nothing an Owl can't count.  (Whisper can manage up to six.  With larger numbers Whisper can still think in terms of More or Less, but can't give the number.)

Earamin, Jiri's hunter friend, is not willing to wait on the boat for any Goblins to show up.

"If we do have to fight Goblins, it shouldn't be here," he says.  "This ship is our ride home and we  shouldn't put it in any danger.

He hops off, and walks towards the small stairway between the two warehouses.

"Are you coming?  The monkeys can help us.  See how they reacted to Owl?  They'll react to anything, I'm sure they'd shout some kind of alarm if Goblins were coming.  I don't think Goblins would treat the wildlife with any respect.  It would be nice to speak to them.  Jiri, you are the only one I know who could round up a team of adventurers, most Elves, but without a Druid or Ranger."