Groxxuzuxl, a large and imposing lizardfolk and pressed crewman of the ship, rolls over from his fetal position and onto his four limbs as he tests his land legs after weeks at sea and a fraught night of fighting against the waves. Surviving the storm was tough for even him and too much for the ship so he is amazed to see any other movement on the beach. He stays still as only a lizard can and watches the other survivors with solid yellow eyes and slit pupils: the green man, a furry snack, and the peach man with the flying snack they had kept with them through their time on the ship. Instinctively he begins to look about for something he might throw at the furry snack to begin the hunt while remaining as still as possible to not spook it too soon.

The nearest person actually moving was an orcish looking man jogging along the shore in Kara's direction. He was a little ways off, but at his pace he would reach her soon enough. Under normal conditions, Kara would be wary, but given the situation, she couldn't imagine he was coming to do her harm. She thought she had seen another person but he seemed to have vanished. There was a fox, probably come to scavenge the wreckage, but none of the other bodies stirred.

Keeping an eye on the approaching green figure, Kara set about brushing as much sand off her skin as possible, even loosening some of her clothing and reaching under to do so. As she did so, she looked about the strange shore. Up on the sea dunes above the shore, the beach vegetation looked odd. There was no grass, just fern-like things and a few palms. There was a forest further up, but trees were not like any back home. Out past the shore, the see looked relatively calm. There were no ships or vessels of any kind. In he distance she could see what appeared to be a crack in the horizon, slowly fading and shimmering out of existence.

"Shandar," she said to her hawk, "go scout the beach. Tell me of all the survivors you see."

Shandar leapt from Kara's shoulder and took flight.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:31, Mon 23 May 2022.

Kamatar slowed his pace for a moment, realizing that his first estimation of the situation was far more influenced by the ordeal that he'd survived and his own roguish fantasy than by reality. 'Nonetheless, there is definitely at least one woman ahead, and she'll likely be needing help as much if not more than I do,' he thought.

Picking up his pace again, he noted several things at once: a wandering fox, that large lizard-man he'd occasionally seen onboard, several unmoving bodies, and a hawk taking flight from the woman's shoulder. 'Hmm... Maybe a lesser noble and their pet falcon? No, not given the reason for this trip. She's probably some kind of spellcaster and the hawk would be her familiar,' he concluded.

Closing to within earshot, he called out to her in a smooth rich voice wearing a friendly smile, “Hello there Miss! Welcome to our fine afternoon!” At this point he bowed gracefully before adding, “I saw you on the beach here and I thought you might need some help. So, how can I be of assistance?”

Oddly, the alchemist is sitting on a dune. Zed looks down at his hands, flexing them. He then rubs the right side of his neck then touches his side. Probably checking to see if he is alright. He keeps what he is to himself, not sure if anyone would understand. Heck he doesn't understand it as well but he ended up embracing it. The android looks through his belongings and stops. Glancing towards the beach he watches what is going on. So far three of them and himself. So much has happened-the rift 'attack', some people getting thrown onto the beach. Zed grabs his goggles and stares at them then wipes them off and puts them onto his head. He stands up, grabbing his gear and starts to head down the dune. All the potions are tied up and and strapped which is good.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:28, Sun 22 May 2022.

 Although he was still wary of these people he had barely met and the Lizardman was eying him like a dinner, the little fox finally stepped forward and changed to re-assume his natural "hybrid" form of a fox-like humanoid dressed in clothing made of leaves and feathers. He carefully watches the rest of the crowd as he spoke up.

"Uh, hi..."

In reply to Kamatar Fletch (msg # 4):

As the Orc came to within a couple dozen paces, he stopped, calling out in clear words. From he less than brutish appearance Kara assumed he was half-orc and from the way he offered help he was an uncommon sort as well. He was tall, muscular of course, and his ink black style looked to have an elfin influence. His clothes were simple, and other than looking like he was just tossed from the sea, they were not threadbare. With nothing to indicate he might turn foe, she went ahead and responded as if he might be a friend.

"Hello there, friend." Though somewhat shouted, her voice was clear like the ring of a bell. "I don't see what's so fine about it." She laughed. "We've just been tossed by the sea and cast on this shore. Unless you know where we are, I suspect we all need the same assistance. Have you seen any other survivors? And please come close so I don't have to yell to be heard."

Further down the beach, she noticed another body stir. He had looked very still but then the reptilian suddenly cast a rock. In response to the movement, the fox transformed to take on a humanoid shape. The two must have been passengers, but she couldn't recall seeing any of them. She called back to the half-orc.

"Look there." She pointed to the approaching fox-man. "And there." she redirected her finger to the reptilian. "It seems I've found a couple."

When the fox-man came closer he greeted with a simple and hesitant utterance.

"Hello there." She said in response. "Perhaps you know where we are?"

Groxx blinks and furrows his brow-horns as the furry snack transforms into an intelligent creature--even a recognized member of the crew--and relaxes his instinct to hunt. The fox person, much like the green person and peach person, would be much better as an ally than food. Ally meat kept better, at the least. Without an immediate threat or need to hunt, the large lizardman stands to his full seven-foot height to stretch his sore back and arms as well as flex his tail from side-to-side. After offering a nod to the others--a gesture which he's learned signals agreeableness to mammals--he leans forward to balance against his large tail and begins to scout the perimeter of their beach, keeping within earshot of their loud conversation while looking for anything useful which washed ashore with them.

As Kara greeted her fellow survivors she continued to cast her eyes about, scanning the beach for movement. Though the flaps of gulls and scurrying crabs kept drawing her eyes, she managed to spy what looked like a man sitting up on a dune. Just after she spotted him, he rose and walked down with the sand sliding away under his feet. She waved in case he didn't see them.

What the? Ok. That was cool with the whole fox changing shenanagins. He stops in his tracks, watching Keeper rise up and then looks over at the big lizardman. Zed takes a deep breath, hoping the lizardman was on their side and not against them but when he doesn't bother anyone he takes a deep breath and wipes his brow. He heads towards the witch and gets to her "Umm yes. Hello. I am Zed. Zed Quinn. Indeed. And you are if I may ask...?" He seems unsure of how to react and glances at the monk and then to druid "Have you seen Bella? We were sep..."

Popping up from some debree is a odd sight. It looks like a strange fox but definatly different. All metal. It acts like a fox, react like a fox but is odd.

"Bella!" The alchemist kneels down and the robot fox charges into him and he falls back as it sits on his chest. It looks down at him, tilting his head "I'm alright. You alright? Wait your good. Its good. Umm yes." He slowly sits up as the fox drops down to the ground. Its blue eyes seem to shine.

https://cdna.artstation.com/p/...9-001.jpg?1472870345

Now with three survivors and a metal fox-golem-thing - or somehow otherwise animated - standing before her, Kara clasped her hands with a smile. "Ah, yes. Well I'm Kara Eldwyyn. Just call me Kara. I'm sorry, but I am out of sorts." Running her fingers through her hair, she winces as if it was the first time she noticed the sand and sea salt clumping it into messy tangles. "Ugh. Please excuse me."

Taking a step back, Kara's hair came to life like the tentacles of a great octopus, growing longer and writhing around her head. The twisting tendrils loped back and wove themselves through each other as if combing itself, dropping a rain of sand and powder. After a few seconds it settled leaving her hair looking silky and styled.

"So much better." She beamed, brushing some of the sand and salt from her shoulders."So, we were saying?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:00, Sun 22 May 2022.

The lizardman watches the others as they gather and introduce themselves with one eye while he scours the debris for anything useful with the other. In his search he recovers a large backpack and begins to stuff it with anything useful--rope, nets, salted rations now soggy and extra salty, and even an iron pot. With everything useful gathered he hefts the heavy pack over his shoulder and fastens the straps over the breastplate armor he was lucky enough to have been wearing when calamity struck--even if it weighed him down so much that he swam as poorly as the others. He also uncovers a trident nearly buried in the sand and after picking it up and giving it a few practice thrusts he grins in satisfaction.

He also looks over the dead bodies that have washed ashore as well, poking at them a bit with his trident, but turns his snout towards the sky in disappointment when he finds little meat remaining after the crabs and gulls have been feasting.

Collecting his own gear.

Largely focused on the women who called herself Kara Eldwyyn, Kamatar paused briefly to watch while her hair took on life and motion of its own. Despite being astonished, only the momentary arching of his left eyebrow displayed surprise, as he managed to maintain his cheerful, friendly and helpful demeanor.

Slightly distracted by a familiar box at the water's edge, his eyes came away from Kara and he said, “Ah. Many apologies Miss Kara, I promise we will speak in at greater length shortly.” After a short polite bow, he quickly strode over to the box and opened it to retrieve several items. While only allowing his attention to briefly waver from her to glance at the others or to enable him to deftly attach items to his body, he finished quickly and then swiftly returned to Kara's side.

“Forgive me for disagreeing with you Enchantress Kara, for I must. You see, every day that I get a chance to make a new friend, discover a newfound place of beauty, or simply continue my journey towards enlightenment, is a fine day.” he said with a cordial smile and a delighted glimmer in his eyes.

Observing the fox-like humanoid dressed in clothing made of leaves and feathers and the man lying in the sand with the clockwork fox that seemed to made of glowing blue gems and metal, Kamatar stepped closer to Kara saying, “Hello to you both. I am Kamatar Fletch a proponent of the Art of Archery; also a seeker and frequent defender of Truth, Beauty and Justice. As Miss Kara is clearly a beauty, I'm obliged to defend her as she allows.”

Collected his gear.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:28, Thu 26 May 2022.

 "This is my first time out of the Weeping Wood for longer than a day. Now I don't know where we are..."

 Keeper looks distant and melancholy for a moment before speaking up again.

 "I am known as the Groundskeeper of the Weeping Wood. I guess some people just call me Keeper."

As the group talks amongst themselves, some of the birds land nearbye. Some of them stare at the ood group. At first it looks like a seagull. But something seems odd. Different. The hawk took off to scout the general area leaving the witch and the others on their own.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:00, Mon 23 May 2022.

Perking up as birds begin to land nearby, the large lizard readies his trident to throw and waits motionlessly for one to draw near enough to strike--fresh poultry would be a welcome break after weeks living on dry, salted meat even if he weren't facing survival in an unknown land.

12:59, Today: Groxxuzuxl rolled 8 using 1d20.  Perception v Birds.

Noticing that the gulls might be different from the ones she had seen before, Kara looks more closely. Is their color, or the shapes of their beaks?

15:28, Today: Kara Eldwyyn rolled 5 using 1d20

Obviously distracted and disoriented by all that had happened, Kara couldn't figure out what was so different.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:39, Mon 23 May 2022.

"That is not normal. Not sure if its a gull but the facial features..there's no beak but something else." Zed ponders something and then looks over at the witch "That is interesting. The hair that is." He adjusts his backpack and watches the lizardfolk looking like he is hunting the birds and looks at the group then looks at Keeper "Groundskeeper of the Weeping Wood?" The man seems interested and the half-orc comes across as rather strong towards the witch. He seems to not really understand and looks over at the woods as if waiting for something to come charging out but nothing happens. He rubs his hands together as the fox looks up at each of them minus the lizardfolk who is hunting. She moves slightly, her bright blue eyes look aroud curiously.

16:26, Today: Zed Quinn rolled 9 using 1d20+4.  Knowledge (Nature).

18:36, Yesterday: Zed Quinn rolled 20 using 1d20+10.  Perception.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Wed 25 May 2022.

12:44, Today: Keeper rolled 21 using 1d20+7.  Perception.

"It's not like any bird I've ever seen, but I haven't gone far from my home until now."

 Keeper looked to Zed a little confused for his reaction.

 "Yes? That is where I am from and I had watch over that forest for years."

Some of the gulls make some strange squeeking sound then take off leaving the group alone. There are some here and there but they are a good distance off. Swooping through the sky the hawk flies down and lands upon the witches shoulder for a moment then flies off. The construct fox watches the hawk. "Should we go down the beach a bit or into the woods? Maybe gather up anything of use?" The alchemist speaks out quietly, not really looking at any of them. He slowly looks over at the scary lizardfolk.

Kara nodded. The hawk seemed to agree with Zed. "That sounds like a splendid idea." She looked back out to the horizon, The vestiges of the rift were mere ripples against the azure sky. "But we don't know where we are. Maybe we should proceed with an abundance of caution."

Despite standing so still he must have been invisible to the birds, they begin to scatter and lizardman lowers his trident in disappointment. Trudging back to the gathered men, hoping they have finished with their chatting and are ready to deal with their situation, the lizardman stops short and points his snout aside to get a good look at them with one eye before speaking, slowly and with special care given to the consonants using his stiff lizard lips, "E'ryone else is ...bird food. Take anything useful. ...We should follow the shore. Shores have ...ports. And fish." He gestures along the shore with his trident for effect.

After watching the birds, the lizard-man, the fox-man, and the man with the magical clockwork fox, Kamatar nodded.

"Then we are in harmonious accord. We will move along the shore, gathering what useful items we can find. We should also be looking for shelter from the weather and other creatures that might choose us for a meal at night." he said, smiling at the others.

Whispering to Kara he said

While awaiting her reply, he started to walk down the beach.