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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 2816807" data-attributes="member: 5808">Part the One-Hundred EightiethIn which: land ho!Reyu looks at the scroll of parchment that Captain Elsuki has rolled on a small table near the ship’s wheel.  A field of blue with lines and a few green blobs on it.  She shakes her head.“I do not understand,” she says.  “How can an island be flat?”“Imagine you’re a bird,” Kiara suggests, “and you’re flying above the islands.  Really, really, really high.  And that blue part would be the water, and the islands would be green…”  she trails off at Reyu’s lost expression.“But a ship… cannot fly.”Kiara shakes her head, and gives up.(WisdomLikeSilence rolled three 1s in a row trying to interpret Elsuki’s chart.  Obviously, elves don’t make pictographic maps.)  Even for those who can interpret the chart, the picture it paints is woefully incomplete.  The water surrounding the islands is much shallower than the surrounding sea, preventing long-rage vessels such as The Fools’ Errand or The Tranquil Shore from approaching.Since a deep-drafted ship cannot penetrate the waters surrounding the islands themselves, the map shows only what could be observed from a distance.“It looks like some of the islands have significant peaks on them,” Lira observes.  “We should be able to get to high ground and survey farther into the archipelago as we go.”Eva could hardly look less enthusiastic.  “Great.”“But, if we can’t approach on The Tranquil Shore, how are we going to find Barnabus?”  Kiara asks.“Captain Elsuki has given us the use of his longboat,” Anvil informs her.  “We will row.”This time, it’s Thatch’s turn to display a marked lack of enthusiasm.  He has a feeling he knows who “we” are going to be in the rowing department.  “Great.”###Although most of the group assumes that the logical course of action is to make first landfall on the same island the previous expeditions disappeared on, Lira suggests that they determine which island to explore first by tossing a small coin onto the chart, and going to whichever island the coin lands on.Of course, the first three times she tries this, the stone goes skittering off the table and lands on the deck.(Hey, it’s harder than you’d think to throw a die in the air and get it to land on an eight-and-a-half by eleven sheet of paper.)“Maybe Ehkt is trying to tell you something?” Annika suggests.Lira shrugs, looks up at the sun, and shouts, “If this is a really bad plan, Ehkt, strike me down!”Beside her, Eva and Thatch each take a large step back.  However, no smiting seems imminent, and the group agrees to follow the route of the last voyage.###Given that Ehkt does not seem to have an opinion on how best to approach the Islands of Mirage, the Fool’s Errand drops sea-anchor off the coast of the island where Elsuki’s previous captain and first mate went missing.  Captain Elsuki agrees to wait two weeks for their return before he heads back for Nayarii.  Anvil frowns at this.  “You will return with both ships?”“Aye.”“We have an agreement as to the division of spoils from this voyage.  Even if we take all of the portable items of value from The Tranquil Shore, it would be a mere fraction of the value of the vessel itself.”“Aye.”  Elsuki cannot disagree.“Unless the riches to be found among the islands themselves are a truly untold sum, you will owe us a great deal of money.”“Well, there’s that.”  The Captain’s expression makes plain that if the party does not return within two weeks, he does not anticipate them ever being in a position to collect their debt.“What if we send you word to wait for us?” Lira puts in.“And how would y’be doin’ that without coming back?”  Elsuki asks, amsued.Lira ignores his tone.  “We can contact you magically.”  Captain Elsuki sighs.  “Of course ye can,” he mutters, then clears his throat and actually answers.  “Ye send word magically that ye’re okay and we should wait, I’ll give you another week.”Anvil nods.  “Agreed.”And without further negotiation, the party packs their gear—Thatch bids good-bye to Bob—and they take to their longboat and head for the island where Elsuki’s last captain met his final fate.  The party members hope for better results.###Kiara flies ahead of the boat, soaring high for the first time in what feels like forever.  From her vantage point, it’s easy to get a good look at the island where they are about to make landfall.  Aside from being covered in extremely dense and varied vegetation, there doesn’t seem to be anything unusual about it.  She sees no signs of any dwellings, habitations, or fauna of any sort.She reports back to the rest of the group, who decide to proceed regardless.  Even if it appears unlikely that this is Barnabus’ home, the island has a peak of some elevation, and they reason that if they can reach that point, they will be able to survey farther into the archipelago, and add to their scanty map.  They party lands their boat on the beach, secures the longboat above the high tide line, and sets out to explore the island’s interior.###Thatch takes the lead, hacking through incredibly dense underbrush as the group makes their way slowly uphill.  Kiara is able to dodge around most of the local flora as she flies in swallow form, but for the rest of the party it is slow going indeed.  The sun is hot, and the air thick with flying insects, busily flitting from one flowering plant to another. It’s spring, and every plant on the island seems to be in bloom.It’s after lunch when, passing by a particularly lush patch of grass between two trees, Kiara is suddenly struck by the feeling that something is… off.  She looks around, sharply, unable to pinpoint what exactly has changed about the current landscape.  She signals mentally to Annika, who stops the group.“Kiara sees something.”“What?” asks Eva, who has been expecting something to go wrong since the group returned to the wilderness.“I don’t know,” Annika shrugs helplessly.  “I don’t think she knows.”“That is not useful,” Anvil points out, but Reyu cuts him off.“No, I believe I know what she means.  It’s—”But what it is becomes abruptly evident as a vine comes striking down from its place in the canopy, and wraps itself around Reyu’s neck.</blockquote>

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