Fantasy Cursed Island

[Darkling0096]

There was a pile of burning dead wood that thankfully obscured the pile of animal corpses underneath as rotten wood and broken wood was hauled from the small cluster of buildings the party was to inhabit. Turac and Siege were alternating into and out of the house, while Jalin tried to stay out of the way, and Sinach waited away from the group for when they were done playing with fire and bugs that eat cellulose.

 

[Fangs9090]

Nidia wasn”t much for hauling, so she was keeping an eye on the fire. Emilia was staying out of the way. Shuffle was watching the fire as well, but it was unclear if she’d stop it from spreading.

Roy spoke up as he walked over. “What did you need my help with?”

 

[Darkling0096]

"You're the nerd!", Siege answered as she heaved a half-rotten bookshelf into the flames. "Gotta make a floor plan, or something." She pointed to Jalin, "His idea."

"Yes," Jalin nodded and tapped his cane, some red liquid dribbling off from what looked like just mud next to him to make a miniature map, based on what he'd perceived while dealing with pests, of the four structures. "Obviously considerable modifications are needed, and I cannot see to reflect them accurately." Nor would a blueprint out of blood be likely to not get him killed by the workers that had to read it.

 

[Fangs9090]

"Ah, right." Roy pulled out a notebook and a pencil as he walked over to take a look at Jalin's map. He studied it and took notes, planning to cross reference it with his own tour of the buildings. Before he could figure out how to modify it, he needed a sense of it's current state.

 

[Darkling0096]

Which, fortunately, Siege and Turac were able to clear one out for. There were four, but they'd only just been cleared of pests and only one was clear of debris. As Roy walked around, he found Jalin's map was fairly accurate. There was a margin of error, since he lacked sight and could only "see" what he touched, but it was close.

 

[Fangs9090]

As he mapped out the building, he included notes of ideas he had to modify it during rebuilding. He wasn't sure yet who would be where, so he kept them simple.

 

[Darkling0096]

As Roy was making his map, Sinach decided he wanted to flutter in and see what was going on with the now empty structure that was almost entirely just the few good pieces of wood that hadn't been eaten through for a floor and a ladder, and the mud walls. "Wow," he looked around through a hole straight to the attic, "Termites."

 

[Fangs9090]

Roy glanced over before looking back to his work. "Yep. They can be a real problem if not dealt with quickly."

 

[Darkling0096]

"I know," Sinach shook his head, "The bookshelf your sister pulled me off of was infested."

 

[Fangs9090]

"I wonder if we might build with other materials. Though wood seems the most abundant in this area."

 

[Darkling0096]

"I doubt it," Sinach chuckled, "I mean, you've seen how they build cities. If they had their way this town would probably just look like a collection of bushes." He paused for a moment, "My old master used to have a nail that could do that to a tree, I wonder if it was still in the tower when you guys looted it..."

 

[Fangs9090]

"It didn't stand out to me when I was there. It could have been gone or we may have missed it."


Kiri soon returned from examining the plant creature's remains. She stopped near the party's fixer-uppers, looking around at whoever was there.

 

[Darkling0096]

"Need something?", Siege asked the plant lizard woman as she hefted more rot onto the pile. Having not been with the party for long once they started cleaning up, she wasn't very familiar with the plant woman aside from that she was interested in the shambling mounds.

 

[Fangs9090]

Kiri nodded. "Yes. If you have a moment, I would like to speak with your group. I have a request."

 

[Darkling0096]

Siege sighed, "ROY! Lady wants to talk to you!"

"Roy is our present leader," Jalin explained as he tapped his way back to the group.

 

[Fangs9090]

"I see."

Roy glanced over before making his way out of the building he was in, marking the notebook page where he left off and storing it away as he walked over.

Kiri spoke up once more. "I examined the creatures that attacked her and was able to identify the plant matter that grew on them, but those types of plants are not native to this forest. I believe the creatures wandered over from the eastern swamps. If they came this far, something must have disturbed them in their home."

 

[Darkling0096]

"What could have disturbed them?", Jalin asked, "I doubt they have any predators that could be experiencing a population boom, to drive them away."

 

[Fangs9090]

"They do not. None that are native to that region. You seem like a capable group. Would you mind investigating for me? I need to oversee the work being done here. In exchange, we'll be sure to help fix up these homes that you've taken an interest in, as well as modify them to suit your needs."

 

[Darkling0096]

Siege raised an eyebrow, "There's a thing, that kicked these plants from their home, and it sent them here, and almost killed us."

Sinach continued, "And you want us to go deal with this thing that's stronger than evil bushes?"

 

[Fangs9090]

"You are all still alive. If nothing else, you can identify what it is so that we can figure out a better method of dealing with it."

 

[Darkling0096]

Sinach opened his beak to protest, but was quickly silenced.

"And this event, if we deal with it, and it turns out there is nothing but population growth of these creatures?", Jalin asked.

 

[Fangs9090]

"Then you will still be thanked for confirming that. Identifying the cause alone would be doing us a service."

 

[Darkling0096]

Thanks didn't put food on the table, but Kiri seemed like someone with power they could use to find the location of the next stone, so the group didn't really have a choice. For now, anyway. "Roy?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Roy gave a nod. "We may as well. If we plan to setup base here, we'll want to make sure it's secured, and that means making sure more of those creatures don't show up."

Kiri dipped her head. "Thank you. There are no roads to the swamp, but if you head east from here, you should reach it before long."

 

[Darkling0096]

"We'll get to it," Jalin nodded, turning and listening around, "Shuffle?" The flesh golem proved formiddable against the plant monsters, and at least better than he could have been against them without a seeing thrall.