<u>Everyone</u>

The portal looked surprisingly mundane, rather than some brilliant conflagaration of magic or a titanic gateway, it was merely a shimmer in the air. It was about wide enough for a pair of carts to pass through, and tall enough that no normal human or demi-human would have to duck when they went through. The portal had sprung up out of the blue in a forest glade a few months back, in the winter. Now, in the spring, after studying it and making sure that no army of horrible things was poised to come through from the other side to flay everyone, they had opened it up to just about any adventurous soul.

In order to avoid stampedes guards were watching the area, and travellers were allowed through in batches of twenty once an hour.

Upon approaching the portal, though, it started to seem more of an impressive experience. As soon as anyone got near it, the shimmering seemed to intensify, waves of scintillating colour sweeping across it like liquid rainbows. The air thickened and got hard to breathe, as though magic had a physical property, a strange gas that displaced oxygen. Just a few yards from the portal, the travellers, who were now all breaking their initial, confident stride as they encountered the strange conditions, saw that they were approaching not just a shimmer in the air, but a hole in it.

The hole was framed by a thin, transparent crystal structure, so fine that you would expect it to shatter in a high wind or at a harsh shout, decorated with odd shapes which all seemed to tempt the viewer with some form of hidden meaning or appearance, as though looking at them from just the right angle would unveil hidden mysteries.

Within the structure was the hole itself, though calling it a hole was a drastic simplification of some obviously unnatural twisting of the very fabric of the dimensions. It was a long, grey-walled tunnel with sharp light at the other end, the walls were probably best left described as "gray," but in fact they had an eerie appearance to them, like the inside of a tornado, twisting and contracting like the intestinal tract of some giant beast, waiting for them to walk right into it's stomach.

For a moment, the group faltered, but then one gathered the nerve to step inside, and the others followed. The first step in was like stepping over the edge of a cliff, for a second there was nothing underfoot and then a falling sensation, except that this fall was straight ahead, parallel with the ground. Several of the travellers screamed, but had hardly begun before they were on solid ground again.

At first, everyone was blinded by the bright light on the other end of the tunnel, out of it's murky darkness they were suddenly standing in full daylight again. As they blinked rapidly and tried to see where they were, the next thing that hit them was the heat. At home it had been spring, just a tad on the chilly side, here it was like being in an oven, and though they were away from the thick air around the portal, they were suddenly finding it hard to breathe again. The humidity wasn't helping any either.

They were able to breathe, though, and vision slowly returned. Above them was a cloudless, blue sky containing a single sun, a giant red orb four times the size of the yellow one at home. Down at ground level, things looked both familiar and alien, they were once again standing in a forest clearing, though this wasn't the sort of forest they'd left. It was some tangled, dark-green mass of vines and trees which was almost dripping water from the pure humidity in the air. All sorts of alien animal sounds echoed through the surrounding woods, from echoing yells that seemed to be two creatures speaking to each other to spine-chilling cries which sounded like some beast running afoul of a vicious predator. And not all those predators seemed to be in a hurry to kill their prey, often those cries lingered for several minutes before finally ending.

The clearing here also looked more man-made than the one on the travellers' homeworld, trees and brush had obviously been cleared in the last few days, as exposed stumps and severed vines were already turning brown under the relentless sun. Near one side of the clearing, as far from the portal as possible without being in the jungle, trees and semi-permanent wooden structures had been set up. It looked like not all of the ones who had come through the portal before them had headed off in random directions to seek adventure, because it looked like there was a tavern, a blacksmith and even a ramshackle stable, as well as a few houses that just looked like where someone had their bed and hung their cloak at the end of the day.

Leading away from the structures and into the jungle were several well-travelled trails in all directions of the compass. None looked like they wouldn't be overgrown in a few weeks, though, it looked like few people had so far gathered the nerve for the dangerous task of heading into the truly unknown.

As people started making up their mind and heading away from the portal, most threw one glance behind them to see what it looked like on this side. Unlike the obviously artificial thing on their homeworld, this one looked almost natural. It had the same sort of entrance, but it was framed by trees whose branches interlocked and formed a wide arch.


Bas

(OOC: This is Kazilan's character.)

As soon as the druid gathered his wits about him, he found himself extremely uneasy in his new surroundings. It was nothing that could be easily defined, but he felt as though he was in a graveyard, a dead place, despite the rampant growth all around him, and it wasn't the man-made clearing that was doing it. Nature was used to pruning, in the form of living creatures, grazing or forest fires, this was something else, something much, much deeper.


Bas, Anne, Tamora, Lorath

(OOC: Kazilan, dplax, Armen and Man Who etc., respectively. Anyone else who finishes their character sheet can consider themselves to be present as well.)

As the other travellers split off and headed for the temporary village to get a drink before deciding where to go, four people came up from the structures. Two of them were carrying a third on a litter and stopped some distance off to put him down on the ground and get some rest, appearing to be tending to his wounds while the fourth approached the group. At first it looked like he merely had a limp, but as he got closer, he turned out to have bandages covering most of his lower arms, a crutch and an apparently injured left foot. He was a young human, blonde-haired and despite his injuries he managed to give the people he was approaching a cheerful smile.

"Welcome!" He said, his smile becoming broader as he stopped to greet them, "It's good to see some people that don't rush off to get themselves killed as soon as they arrive. Sirs and ladies, I am Jonas," he bowed as well as he could despite the crutch, as though they were royalty, "And as you can see, I and one of my friends got into a bad scrape out there beyond the trees, I'll recover, but I'm not sure that he will without help, so if you can help him, or can give us some coin, just a few gold pieces will do, I'll tell you what I know of the surrounding lands. There are a few places that it would be wise to avoid, as we learned..."

(OOC: If you don't have your character sheet in at this point, and don't finish it before this little encounter is over, don't fret, I'll find a way to introduce you once you get a sheet to me.)

Lorath was still a little disoriented from the travel through the gate, though he felt himself getting more used to his surroundings by the second. He was a short, spindly elf, and as such wasn't carrying much in the way of equipment. Shortly after exiting the gate he took off his robe and stuffed it in his pack to alleviate the sweltering heat.

When Jonas approached he nodded to the man and clasped his hands in front of him. "Nice to meet another group of adventurers on this side of the gate," he said. "My name is Lorath. We just got here, and would be glad to have any advice that you might be able to offer." He didn't have a lot of money left from his preparations, but would be willing to contribute a gold piece to a communal fund for helping this group, or by itself if necessary.

Tamora was disturbed by the portal but soon forgot her fears at the sight of the wall of greenery that surrounded the clearing. Her mouth widened in the biggest smile the group had seen on the face of the young elf and her eyes briefly lit up with excitement. She turned to Bas to share her delight in the environment they found themselves in and was surprised to see a troubled look on his face. Turning away, her eyes narrowed as she surveyed the vegetation with a professional gaze, widening slightly at the first sound of what sounded like an alien predator. She was short even for an elf and best described as wiry, dressed in green and apparently well outfitted with a quiver and shortbow slung over her back.

When Lorath started to speak she turned to regard the man that had approached them. She very much doubted this human would be able to give her any of the detailed information she would need. But she was wise enough to realise that Lorath was likely to be a better judge of the man than her and she was desperate to learn all she could about this strange new forest – not least what had caused the parties extensive wounds.

She nodded her assent to Lorath, leant on her spear and waited to hear what this Jonas had to say.

[ 01-12-2007, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Armen ]

Bas frowned, his slender fingers tightening on his staff as he gazed at the new surroundings. He barely noticed as a human approached and tried to strike up conversation. As the druid's eyes settled on the litter he gave a start and moved to the injured man's side. After a quick examination of the man's wounds he prepared a healing spell, pushing the edges of his cloak back so they did not interfere with the casting. A sickle caught the sunlight from it's place on his belt, the only spot of light on his body, covered as he was by travel stained leather armor.

Bas

The two of Jonas' friends watching the man on the litter were engaged in a quiet conversation and didn't notice the druid until he was right next to them, for a few seconds they looked poised to interrupt as he offered no explanation for his actions, instead just approaching their wounded comrade and starting to whisper prayers to something.

Bas almost found his stomach turned by the man's injuries, both of his legs, and half of his torso, were a mass of burns and large, fluid-filled blisters, he also seemed to be having some sort of feverish hallucination, but was too weak to do much more than mutter and feebly twitch.

His friends apparently decided to wait and see what Bas was up to, because they permitted the druid to finish his incantation. As the healing energy washed through the guy, most of the burns were cured, as well as the blisters, but he was still feverish. It was obvious that some sort of poison, rather than just superficial injuries, was responsible for his condition.


Lorath, Anne, Tamora

Jonas seemed to be caught as off-guard as his friends by Bas' sudden actions, and the only reason he didn't try to stop him appeared to be that he was too surprised to know how to react, "Is that guy with you?" He spoke to those of the group who hadn't wandered off, "If he is, you may want to tell your friend to start speaking, he could get skewered acting like that, not everyone is as slow to draw their weapons as we are. Still, you've handed me some coin and Mr. Quiet decided to try and help out, I owe you information."

He seemed to think for a moment, then spoke again, "We went through most of the surrounding area, but not too far from the camp, what I can tell you is only what we saw a few miles from here, within easy walking distance. South and east, the terrain rises upwards and the going is tough, we didn't go far that way because, quite frankly, we're a bunch of lazy bastards. After heading a bit that way, though, one of my friends, Erik, decided to climb a tall tree and see if we were headed for anything interesting or if we should turn back. All he could see was a large canyon that cut through the jungle in a line from southwest to northeast, he said it looked pretty wide, and unbridged, too, so if you wanted to head in that direction, you'd have to go around it or down into it. Far beyond the canyon, he said he could see mountains."

"Southwest and west, the land turns swampy, we found some ruins in a bog, but the ones we found were half-submerged and looked like they'd been raided years ago. Since we'd already been almost dragged under five times by constrictor snakes living in that water by then, we decided to not go any further in that direction."

"After returning to camp for some fresh supplies, we headed northeast, encountering little except for a river that we didn't feel ready to ford, this one crossed through the jungle from southeast to northwest, nothing interesting about it, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching us from the point we arrived there."

"Seeing neither bridges, paths or easy crossing points, we went west from there, following the river downstream for a while, then just heading straight west. It was easy going, since the terrain was dry, underbrush was light and things were sloping downwards. First we came across a clearing that I'd say was just about straight north of here, nothing interesting about that place, except that some sort of terrible snake-like creature decided to pick a fight with us there. Would you believe that thing had a mane, a mane of feathers of all things? Bizarre beast, we didn't even see it until it dropped out of a tree and landed right on top of Erik, thankfully we managed to get it off of him before it could wrap around him and crush him, since that seemed to be how it liked to fight."

"Finally we went further west from there, northwest from here, and that's when things went badly. We found this wide open idyllic-looking lake, it was one of the moest beautiful things I'd ever seen. The surface was almost completely flat, the water was blue and so clear you could see the bottom almost all the way to the middle. We saw a village on the north shore, but before we went there, poor Jan wanted to go swimming in the lake, he said he could see something on the bottom that he swore was a treasure chest."

"So he swims out there, almost halfway to the middle and sorta treads water at the surface for a bit, looking downwards, seemed like he was trying to spot the treasure chest again. He dove under, swam down about halfway to the bottom, seemed to panic and immediately headed for the surface. He almost made it back before it looked like something pulled him under, so I swam out there, trying to get him back to shore. I dove under, grabbed a hold of him and started heading back, but he was already halfway unconscious by the time I hit the surface again. While I was under, something brushed against me, I don't know what it was and I never want to feel it again. At first, it was... Soft, like it was hardly more than dense water, but immediately afterwards it felt like my leg and side were on fire, I only just managed to reach shore before they gave out on me completely. It's been two days since then, and it was only this morning that I could even walk." Jonas seemed to shudder at the memory, "That's all I know about the area, hope you feel you got your money's worth."


Tamora

Tamora seems few plants that she knows, obviously this isn't the sort of forest she comes from. She feels that she recognizes a bird call or two in the distance, but that's about all. Nonetheless, she's willing to wager that none of the plants in easy view of the clearing are likely to bite her head off or have useful properties.

Still, from listening to Jonas, it sounds as though the predators of this world, alien though they might look, use the same sort of tactics she would have expected from hunting creatures at home.

(OOC: Apologies for any low quality in this post, I've managed to get myself a bit of a head cold...)

[ 01-13-2007, 08:07 PM: Message edited by: PurpleXVI ]

(OOC: Conferred with Purple a bit during this for the quick NPC question)

Lorath listened intently, a hand on his chin, as Jonas recounted his experiences exploring the jungle and other nearby areas. This was a rather complete description of the immediately surrounding area, and he felt it to be well worth his gold and Bas's healing spell. He hoped neither would be necessary while exploring the information obtained through this.

When Jonas finished recounting his tale, Lorath dropped his hand down to his side and nodded. "Just one more question, if you don't mind," he began. "Did the village look to be recently inhabited?"

"I think I saw smoke from cooking fires, but I can't say for sure, it was a damn big lake, and it was almost on the opposite side from us," replied Jonas.

"Well, I thank you for the information you shared with us, and hope you and your companion have a quick and full recovery," he said sincerely.

<font color=silver>Gan Vahnsen

The half snow elf had been the last one through the portal – actually, he had almost not come at all. At the last moment before he had gone through, he realised much to his disgust that one of his bootlaces had flown undone, and so, he had paused to fix it. Unfortunately, said bootlace would not cooperate and he discovered, much to his ire that it would need replacing, for it had split in several places.

While annoying, it was not a hard task to thread a new bootlace, though it was taxing. As tedious as it was, it was better to get it right now rather than to wait until he was through the portal and encountering only the gods’-knew-what. And so, he had paused to fix his bootlace. It had taken him all of five minutes, but of course, being at the end of the line meant that he was delayed further. But! He had ventured forth!

…and found himself on the other side of the portal. He arrived in time to catch the last part of Jonas’ speech to Lorath, though he did not know who either of them were. He recognised the group from before he entered the portal, and they seemed as good as any to travel with.

So he did.

Standing someway behind the elf Tamora, he waited in silence while Lorath finished talking to Jonas. When he had, the half snow elf ventured, <font color=skblue>“I am afraid I did not catch most of that, I was… delayed coming through.”</font> he nodded to the others, and added cheerfully, though his tone was sardonic, <font color=skblue>“So, where to now, brave fellows?”</font></font>

Tamora appeared distant as she listened intently to Jonas' story - her eyes unfocussing as she attempted to form an accurate mental picture of the terrain he described. When she heard Lorath thank the man she quickly took a step in front of Lorath, reaching out a hand as if ready to restrain Jonas "Wait!", she said "You tell us that on your second journey you head north west, reach river, turn west and then attacked in a clearing north of here. This is not possible."

[ 01-13-2007, 01:47 PM: Message edited by: Armen ]

Bas looked over his patient once more before addressing the injured man's two companions.

"I've done what I can to heal his injuries, but it appears there is some sort of poison in his system. You will need to get him to a healer or find an antidote as quickly as you can." Bas leaned on his staff and glanced around the clearing, his eyes coming to rest on his own companions, people he knew by name only. He found it difficult to be comfortable around non-druids, and at times felt as if the common language was a foreign tongue.

The half-elf pressed a hand to his forehead and turned back to the two men.

"Before you go, have you seen any recognizable animals? Deer, boar, birds, creatures that you would take for granted?"

Anne Evasdottir

Anne had never seen anything like it - she had only heard of the existence of such portals in legends and stories of faraway lands. A group of people had just gone through a couple of minutes ago.

"Miss Kilorn!" The voice startled her out of her daydreaming.

"Yes?" she asked, half turning to face the man addressing her.

"Miss Kilorn, I know that you are Anne Evasdottir, travelling under an assumed identity. I'd prefer if you came with us quietly."

Without a single glance behind her, Anne bolted towards the strange opening. Rushing footsteps followed her, but she had enough of a head start. Her last thoughts before leaving her home world were a quick prayer for the well-being of her two brothers, whom she had no idea when she would next see. A loud curse followed her...obviously those that should have caught her weren't authorised to follow. Anne breathed a sigh of relief. Several months of being hunted by the law were finally over, but what a price she had to pay...

The first thing she felt was the extreme heat. After her recent run, she was short of breath, and even the simple act of breathing in this unfamiliar environment proved to be a quite an effort. Anne stood there, doubled over, catching her breath for several seconds before surveying those around her. It was quite a mixed bunch.

Bas

"Afraid not," said one of them, he looked like a skinny, nimble type, likely the tree-climbing Erik that Jonas had mentioned, "Lots of snakes and some big bugs, though. At one point we saw this giant ant-looking thing, almost as big as a horse! Docile, though, didn't attack us, but we figured it would probably be a good idea not to try to pet it, so you never know, hop on it's back and it might bite your arms off. At any rate, we appreciate the help, if we ever see you again, we'll remember it, but now we've got to take care of our friend."

Then Erik and the so-far-unnamed adventurer grabbed the wounded man's litter and carried him off towards the collection of structures, likely hoping to find an alchemist that could brew them up a cure.


Everyone else

Jonas' face became a grimace of concentration as he seemed to be recalling what he had just told the group, then he relaxed, "Oh yeah, my bad," he said to Tamora, "I meant to the northEAST, it's this heat," he laughed, "It gets to you pretty bad, but you'll probably notice that soon. I suggest you make sure to keep your waterskins full, you wouldn't think it in a forest as wet as this one, but you sweat like crazy and on our first trip out we almost didn't make it back because we figured we wouldn't need much water."

"I'm afraid we've got things to attend to, though, mostly the well-being of our friend, if you manage to return from where ever you decide to go, let us know how you fare and what you find. I'm curious to see what better adventurers than us might discover." Then he left to catch up with his friends.

Lorath turned at the sound of another person coming through the gate. He hadn't noticed anyone else skulking nearby, this person must have been unable to bear the wait until the next group. "Well, hello there," he greeted the newcomer. "A little anxious to get to this side of the portal, are we?" He smiled. "The name's Lorath." If he were standing closer he would have extended his hand.

Without turning, simply lowering his voice, he addressed Gan's question. "I'd like to check out that village, really. It doesn't sound too difficult to get to, and making some contact with the natives will be important in learning about this place's flora, fauna, and landscape."

Tamora nodded at Jonas' response to her challenge. She was struck by how generously he admitted his error and how he even gave them more information. For a moment she envied Lorath's easy manner with strangers that had gained them such valuable knowledge so quickly. She realised though that it would be dangerous to rely on the perceptions of others - particularly humans not born in the forest. She appeared to come to a conclusion.

Turning back to Lorath she said, "I am happy to travel with you to this lake but first I will explore the immediate area around this clearing. While I'm gone you speak to the people in this settlement and see if we can learn more. I will be back in an hour."

She approached Bas and lowering her gaze, she quietly said "Learned one, I would appreciate your wisdom on my patrol"

<font color=silver>Gan Vahnsen

<font color=skblue>“Sounds good.”</font> the half elf answered Lorath, <font color=skblue>“I agree. Anyone else coming?”</font>

Glancing at Tamora as she spoke to Lorath, Gan was about to introduce himself, but thought better of it. There would be time for such things later.

There really wasn't much more to say until everyone else replied to began to move.</font>

Bas nodded at Tamora's suggestion.

"Yes, we should investigate the area as soon as possible. Not to belittle those men," Bas glanced at the group as they moved away, "but I doubt they would notice an elk's passage unless its antlers were embossed in gold. Lead the way and I will keep pace."

[ 01-14-2007, 02:02 PM: Message edited by: Kazilan ]

Lorath pondered for a moment. It would be difficult to dissuade these two from going out and looking around, and it had merit. On the other hand, Gan seemed to want to leave right now, and he had to admit that he did too. He didn't want to split up this early, but he supposed that it'd be the best way to get as much information as possible in the shortest amount of time.

"All right, while you two are checking out the nearby wildlife and plants, we'll be heading out to the village and investigating the lake. We'll try to set up some sort of base of operations and wait for you there." He looked at Anne, who he hadn't seen before but seemed anxious to get through the gate for some reason. "You can come with us too, if you'd like."

(OOC: Heavy edit after PM with Man Who . . .)

Tamora nodded "Very well". With a glance towards Bas to make sure he was following she headed north along the trail out of the clearing. They were quickly lost from sight among the vegetation.

[ 01-14-2007, 06:24 PM: Message edited by: Armen ]

Anne Evasdottir

She did not immediately reply to Lorath, preferring to catch her breath before doing so. She then glanced at the man, who had spoken to her. His ears immediately gave away his elven heritage, but Anne also noticed that he was of quite small stature for an elf. Still completely unaware of whom she could trust in this new world, she preferred to address him in the elven tongue. While she spoke well, to the well-trained or native ear, her manner of speaking the language of the elves gave away that she was not a native speaker.

"You are right that I was in a hurry to leave the lands on the other side of that portal, but I'd prefer keeping the reasons of that haste private for the time being. My name is Anne," she hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether to give her last name, but eventually decided against it.

Anne brushed her brown hair back from her eyes.

"I heard you mention some sort of village...I would be interested in accompanying you there. I badly need provisions and a set of fresh clothes, for all that I have is what you can see me wearing, and my guess is that the natives of this place shall know better what to wear here than the newly sprung up shops here. What do you know of the village?" she asked.

"We know only what Jonas's party was able to tell us about it, Anne," Lorath replied to her, also in Elvish in case she didn't speak Common or simply preferred it. "However, they did suspect it's still occupied, and you could probably find some provisions there either way."

He adjusted his red tunic and looked to the north. "We should probably be heading out before it gets any hotter. That lake sounds like it'd be a real luxury in midday heat."

Bas and Tamora

(OOC: Armen told me how Tamora would likely undertake the task of exploring near the clearing, so I'm making the assumption that Bas will go along with it.)

Under Tamora's careful leadership, the druid and ranger made their way northwards. It was slow going because in some places there were almost literal walls of vegetation, barriers of vines, bushes and trees towered over them and forced them to make detours or take the equally time-consuming course of climbing over.

Eventually though, several hours and barely a couple of miles later, they managed to reach the edge of the clearing. The jungle suddenly started to thin out, making the going easier, and they could see a lighter patch up ahead. Beyond the edge of the jungle there was a roughly circular clearing with a few trees in it. The trees were bare trunks that rose about eight feet into the air each, before spreading into a near-horizontal tangle of tightly interwoven branches with plenty of leaves. If not for the slightly sinuous shapes of the trunks, they almost looked like organic parasols.

The ground, both inside the clearing and around it, was covered with serpentine tracks. A few scales, each roughly the side of a palm and hard as steel, found in the tracks, confirmed that they were likely made by the snake-like thing that Jonas and his friends met. Aside from that, however, Tamora also found other tracks, humanoid-looking ones, though not human-looking. The creatures leaving them were obviously two-legged, but didn't wear boots and their feet looked distinctly reptilian.

Upon following those tracks around the clearing for a bit, she found the clumsy swathe carved through the jungle by Jonas' party, and noticed that the reptilian humanoids had shadowed the humans. Seeing as how Jonas hadn't mentioned the creatures, it would make sense to reason that he hadn't known he was being followed.

As Tamora and Bas came around to the left side of the clearing, they saw the creatures continued to follow the men in the direction of the lake.

While Tamora did her tracking, Bas managed to come to several conclusions about the snakes in the area. Judging by scratches left on many tree-trunks and scales embedded in them, it was obvious that the creatures often hung around well above their prey. Additionally, where the ground was particularly soft, they seemed to burrow downwards, possibly meaning that they could ambush prey from below as well.

Despite the blue sky above, Bas felt like they were likely going to get rain soon.


Lorath, Gan and Anne

The trio made faster progress than their comrades since they had the trail left by Jonas and his friends to follow. There was still plenty of undergrowth, though, often forcing Gan and Lorath to get out their swords and hack a way through, or leaving Gan with the job of finding them a way around some obstacle or another. Anne had an advantage over the men in that she was a capable climber, allowing her to scale obstacles that the others had to go through or around.

Around them, things seemed to be quiet, they were likely making enough noise that anything docile was five miles away, and allowing any predators to stalk them from the same sort of distance without having any doubt where they were.

Still, they arrived at the southeastern shore of the lake without losing any body parts. Lorath and Gan had a few scratches from branches, and Anne had stung herself on a few thorns while trying to climb a wall of vines that had a plethora of hidden pointy things right under the surface.

While they had made their way, however, Anne had the odd feeling that they were often being watched. Possibly someone was following them, but it was hard to tell since they were making so much noise themselves. When they finally made it out of the woods, though, they were no longer quite as noisy and yes, just at the edge of her hearing she could pinpoint something following them. Several somethings in fact, somethings very skilled at not making noise when moving through heavy jungle, but still incapable of being completely silent. Whoever, or whatever, it was, didn't follow them beyond the treeline, though.

As Jonas had told them, the lake was gigantic and pristine. It was at least several miles from shore to shore, the water was so blue you could hardly believe it wasn't dyed and all around the edge there was perfect sand, unmarred by anything. With little wind around, the surface of the lake was almost as flat as a mirror, only making the scene more beautiful.

At the northeastern edge, there seemed to be the outlet of a river which fed water to the lake, and on the southwest side, it looked like there was the point where water left the lake again, though it disappeared amongst a jumble of rocks and cliffs.

On the northern shore, there was, as Jonas had claimed, a few huts. They seemed relatively primitive. No one looked like they were moving among the huts, though, but it was hard to disguise the smoke rising from a few cooking fires that it looked like no one had extinguished.

The only oddity was that, for such a clear lake, there seemed to be very few fish and almost no vegetation on the bottom. A few hundred yards out, and likely as many yards down, something's visible on the bottom. Either a collection of very white rocks, possibly ruins, or the picked-clean skeleton of something that was about the size of a house before it died. In among the remnants of whatever it was, Lorath and Gan spotted something irregular, half-covered by sand. It looked brown, slightly wooden and as though it had a rather square shape, about the size of a man's torso.

Lorath took a look around the clearing and the lake. "This is about how Jonas described it to us," he announced. Then, pointing at the object in the lake, added, "Especially if that's the supposed treasure that almost got Jan killed." He spent a couple more seconds taking in the beauty of the place, and made a note that he would have to find out what was in the lake. But that could wait until later.

"The people here might not be the most willing to help off-worlders, so you should probably be ready to dodge an attack or two, and maybe get into a scuffle." Before moving on any further he cast Armor on himself as a primary defense, but still hoped that the natives were more friendly than he expected.

"These snake-like creatures attack from above and below." Bas pointed at a spot that showed signs of recent burrowing. "That may be why we haven't seen any animals. With such aggressive, large predators, I don't know that the animals we know could exist here."

The druid picked up a leaf from the ground and examined it closely before placing it in his backpack. He was hoping to find a parallel between the vegetation here and what was prevalent back home. Bas paused in his investigation and looked at Tamora, his brow furrowed in thought.

"What are your impressions of this place?"

<font color=silver>Gan Vahnsen

<font color=skblue>“This place seems too picturesque.”</font> Gan commented to Lorath and Anne. He had not heard Jonas' description of the area, so he was unaware of what lurked below. <font color=skblue>“I suggestion caution.”</font>

At Lorath's words, Gan nodded grimly and added, <font color=skblue>“Be careful.”</font>

He drew back, and notched an arrow to his bow. Even though he was better with a sword, an arrow in the eye could make all the difference in the world. He would draw melee weapons if it looked like Lorath needed a hand - or an enemy drew too close, assuming of course, an enemy emerged. Either way, he had a bad feeling about this. Anything too perfect to be true - usually was.</font>

Edit:

I should mention that Gan is about 5'9-5'10 in height, has pale blue eyes, white-silver hair and extremely fair skin. His ears are slightly tipped, and he has the bearing of a half elf. So - slightly more slender than a human, but not as skinny as an elf. He wears leathers of brown, grey and black nd trudges around with his swords, bow, dagger and arrows.

[ 01-15-2007, 07:38 AM: Message edited by: Calaethis Dragonsbane ]

Tamora was sat on her haunches turning one of the large scales between her fingers. She had been reflecting again on how useful and accurate Jonas’ information had been.

Looking up in response to Bas’s question she smiled. “It’s wonderful. I enjoyed my travels through the forests of Angor's Haven but that was similar to my own. This is completely different. I feel like I could spend the whole of my tr... my . . . travels exploring this small patch of jungle.” Tamora seemed flustered and examined the scale more closely.

She stood up and put the scale away in a pouch at her belt. “I should track the two-footed reptile creatures but I worry about hunting them on their own territory and I don’t want to leave you alone”. The unknown creatures had been content to follow Jonas’ party and apparently tolerant (or afraid) of the settlement in the portal clearing but it could be different for a lone traveller. She knelt and studied the tracks for a moment before apparently coming to a decision.

“I think we should go quickly to the lake along Jonas’ trail to the west, find the others and see what they have learned. With your permission Learned One, once we are almost clear of the trees I will double back to see if we too are being followed.”

Anne Evasdottir

Anne breathed much more freely once they cleared the treeline...luckily whoever or whatever had been following them wasn't leaving the jungle.

"Someone or something was following us in the jungle," she said, turning to her newly-met companions. "I'd suggest we move away from the trees sooner than later."

Here in the clear, she had a chance to survey her second companion, whom she recognized as a snow elf from having met a couple of them a few months back.

"My name is Anne," she said in elven, not extending her hand, for the snow elf was holding a bow.

<font color=silver>Gan Vahnsen

<font color=skblue>“Gan.”</font> The half elf nodded, both to her greeting and her warning. <font color=skblue>“Acknowledged.”</font>

[ 01-18-2007, 11:42 AM: Message edited by: Calaethis Dragonsbane ]

Bas blushed slightly at Tamora's words. "You are not the only one capable of traversing the wilderness alone. I appreciate your offer but I can make it back to the group by myself."

The druid took a few steps away before stopping himself. He shook his head, wondering if speaking with people would always be so difficult. With a look back to his companion he said, "Tamora, if I need assistance I will call out to you. Please do the same if you should need me."

Bas started off in the direction of the lake.

Anne, Gan, Lorath, Bas

As the three debated their options, their unseen observers didn't seem to take the chance to pounce. Apparently they were content to watch, at least for the moment.

Just after Gan had made his statement, though, Bas slipped out of the treeline farther up the beach. His walk through the trees had been quite easy since he could follow the path that Jonas' party had carved through the undergrowth. Both he and the three others spotted each other right away, being only a hundred yards, at most, apart.


Tamora

Tamora had separated from Bas just before he had left the trees and doubled back to catch a glimpse of their pursuers, moving as stealthily through the forest as she was able.

Just as she'd given up on spotting anything and begun heading back towards Bas, she finally saw something. Crouched down near the edge of the woods, watching the group outside, was a group of reptilian humanoids. Each of them was seven foot tall and was covered in small scales the colour of spring leaves, they had slatered mud on their bodies in random patterns to better blend in with the brown colours of the jungle. They were nothing but loincloths and were armed with spears.

At a quick headcount, she saw three of them, but it was possible there were some she wasn't seeing, or other groups in the area. They occasionally whispered to each other in their own, sibilant language, but just as often they seemed to communicate with some sort of simple sign language, allowing them to remain perfectly silent while still speaking to each other.


Evon

(OOC: This is Encard's character.)

Unlike the others, the portal had presented little difficulty for Evon. He had merely stepped through it like any other doorway with no ill feeling or odd experiences, it was, in fact, slightly underwhelming.

As he arrived in the clearing, the only greeter appeared to be a young, blonde-haired man with a bandaged leg who was resting on a nearby treestump, apparently waiting for no one in particular to arrive, for he perked up when Evon showed up.

"You there!" He exclaimed, waving in an attempt to attract Evon's attention, "Yes, you, yon lad who looks like he could use a good night's sleep and should maybe consider eating some more trail rations, if you're not about to hurry off on some other errand, could I convince you to carry a message for me? I can't pay you much, but I do have a coin or two to spare, it may save lives if you can deliver it in time."

[ 01-16-2007, 03:15 AM: Message edited by: PurpleXVI ]

As Tamora studied the reptile men it struck her how they seemed so alike and yet so unlike the hunting patrols that she had been part of at home. The comparison reminded her forcefully that it was unlikely the jungle dwellers welcomed these intruders onto their territory. She resolved to return to the portal sometime to warn Jonas and the other settlers there about the lizard creatures and also to try to ensure that the newcomers didn’t disturb the natives too much.

Her priority now though was to rejoin Bas and the rest of the party. She scanned the area around her carefully before slipping away through the jungle until out of range of the group and then headed for the lake hoping to rejoin Bas and find the others’ trail.

"We're being followed?" Lorath asked, as if to confirm Anne's assertion. "Then we should stay on the look-out, since they probably followed us here." He started walking toward the village again, but at a more cautious pace, occasionally stopping to glance over his shoulder for their stalkers.

When Bas broke through the treeline, he waved at him, then jogged up to greet him. "Find anything interesting?" he asked when just a few yards away.

<font color=silver>Gan Vahnsen

There was no need for Gan to speak, for if he had, he simply would have echoed Lorath's words. Better to stay silent. And so, Gan merely nodded and followed Lorath, keeping a sharp look out for any potential stalkers. Lorath could lead the way, and he would continually check the treeline.

Unless Gan saw something out of place, he would keep quiet on the way to the village. He greeted Bas with a nod, but otherwise kept his mouth shut, as he focused on his watch. While the others were chatting something might attack... especially if they were being stalked.</font>

"Certainly," Evon replied with a smile, inwardly wishing a little that the fellow's suggestions could be enough to make himself look soft and pleasant like any other person, instead of skeletally gaunt as he perpetually was. Still, he was used to it. "If you can tell me how to get to wherever you message needs to go, I'm sure I could manage to bring it there. Traveling with a destination in mind will be a pleasant change." Walking toward the young man, Evon added, "Unless that's a new fashion, you look a bit hurt - is there anything I can do to help?"

As an afterthought, he added, "My name is Evon, by the way. And yours...?"

[ 01-16-2007, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: Encard ]

Bas returned Lorath's wave and directed his steps towards the group.

"We found tracks left by snake creatures, most likely the same kind that attacked the other group. It appears that they can burrow into the ground as well as climb trees. The trees were also somewhat strange, although differences between the flora and fauna of our world and this one were to be expected. Did you discover anything on your search?"

"Nothing much," replied Lorath to Bas's question. "We did find the treasure that apparently lured in Jonas's group, I think it's in that big white skeleton." He pointed at the middle of the big white thing the size of a house in the lake. "I'd like to check it out, but whatever attacked them in the water seems to still be there."

He considered the report from Bas. "You know, Anne noticed that something was following us. Could those tracks you found be of the same type of creature on our tail?"

Tamora

As Tamora carefully stepped back from watching the lizardmen, she felt something crunch under her foot. Under her, some tiny creature gave a high-pitched squeal and scuttled off into the brush, it was too fast for her to have any impression of anything other than something six-legged, chitinous and dust-coloured.

Near the treeline, though, the lizardmen appeared to have heard the noise as well. Rather than watching what was happening out on the shore of the lake, they made silent gestures and turned around, not having spotted Tamora yet, but looking in her direction. As two of them flanked out, one to each side, the middle one stepped directly towards her hiding place.


Evon

"Jonas," said the guy, extending his hand for a shake, "And thanks, but I'll probably be back on my feet in a few days, I just had a run-in with something poisonous in a nearby lake while rescuing one of my friends from it. Which is what this little delivery is going to be about." He unstrapped his backpack, reached into it and pulled out a stoppered bottle full of transparent, blue liquid which he handed to Evon.

"Just a short while ago, some other young lads and lasses came through the portal and I told them about the surrounding area, some of them decided to head for the same lake that I'd been at. Now, to make a long story short, just a short while ago, I came in posession of an antidote to this poisonous thing's attacks, the stuff I just gave you, there should be enough in there for one person. So what I'm asking of you is to sprint up the trail to the northwest until you find them, hand them the bottle and tell them what it is, just in case one of them simply must go swimming in the lake because they think there's treasure in it or some such."

He also handed Evon a three gold coins, "I hope that'll be payment enough, because between paying for antidote for my friend and that bottle, I don't really have anything else left."


Lorath, Gan, Anne, Bas

The high-pitched scream of some tiny creature in trouble or pain broke the silence as the group considered their options. There seemed to be some further commotion in the trees near where the shriek had originated from. Not a scuffle or such, just some large beasts moving about. Despite straining their ears, no one could tell what was making the sound.

In the sky, to the far northwest, dark clouds seemed to be gathering.

Shaking Jonas' hand, Evon said "Sure, I'll bring them this antidote. Hopefully they'll be smart enough not to go swimming, but you never know. You're a good man, giving this bottle to them - I'll let them know it was you who sent it." He looked quite concerned when Jonas told him that the three gold pieces were all he had, however, and pressed one of the coins back into the man's hand. "Come now, I can't take everything you have! Please, keep at least one for yourself - you never know when you'll need it."

While stowing the antidote and coins safely away, he asked Jonas, "Is there anything I should be wary of in the woods?"

"Well, we were pretty noisy, so I think we scared away a lot of things that we might otherwise have run into, and there were four of us, meaning that there might've been things that would attack a lone traveller, but didn't bother us, still, we saw some animals, and they're nothing like the ones at home," Jonas stopped speaking for a moment to re-arrange his bandages, "While we were wandering around almost getting lost northeast of here, we saw some herds of giant insects. Like ants, but the size of a horse, they didn't bother us, but if you meet an angry-looking one, I'd suggest running. Aside from the thing in the lake, the only thing that actively tried to kill us was a snake as big as me which dropped out of a treetop, tried to crush one of my buddies. Lastly, we never had to rely on anything but our rations out there, so be careful what you eat, could be a lot of the stuff here is poisonous to us."

"Ah, thank you," Evon replied, nodding. "All right, it sounds like I've been through worse a time or two. I'll have the antidote to those folks in a jiffy. Take care of yourself, Jonas!" With a smile and a wave, he took off toward the trail at a jog, increasing his pace when he got within the woods. He'd run at as quick a pace as he could maintain, keeping a watch for possible sources of harm as he went.

[Jonas' reply is from Purple]

[ 01-17-2007, 02:02 AM: Message edited by: Encard ]

Tamora froze at the sound of the insect’s scream. As she watched the lizardmen fan out her eyes flickered from the hunters to the jungle trail to the tree line and back as her mind raced through the options available to her. She immediately ruled out running back into the jungle – she had no wish to become prey. She could hide until the last minute and try to dodge through the group and break clear of the tree line. But if the hunters panicked and attacked or tried to grab her she would have to fight and she had no wish to start a conflict between the newcomers and the lizardmen. And besides, she was more than a little bit curious . . .

She stepped into the open towards the leader, planted the butt of her spear on the ground and held her free hand out in front of her with the palm outstretched.

[ 01-17-2007, 06:07 AM: Message edited by: Armen ]

At the sound of the shriek, Lorath spun around to face the direction it had come from. The scream alone wouldn't have been out of the ordinary, especially in the jungle, but with the large rustling noises following it and the fact that they had been followed, it seemed worth investigating.

"We'll move up in twos," he suggested. "Gan and I will form the first rank, Bas and Anne the second." He cast a Strength spell on himself. "Now, let's go see what's lurking in the trees."

<font color=silver>Gan Vahnsen

The half elf did not answer Lorath but merely nodded, and keeping his bow drawn, he stealthily followed the shorter elf keeping a few feet distance from his companion. He trusted Bas and Anne would follow behind.

If need be, he would switch to his swords, but with any luck... well, luck was what you made of it. At any rate, Gan would keep his options open and remain aware. He had no issue with Lorath assuming control - for now. If he proved to be competent, let him lead. It was no skin off Gan's back. If he proved to be hopless... Well, Gan didn't have to follow anyone's orders. If it made sense - so much the better.</font>

Bas frowned. Already someone was ordering him and the others around, and just after the ranger had treated him like a child. Is this how people acted in the world outside the forests? He took a deep breath and walked after Lorath and Gan, while calling ahead, "If it is a wild animal, keep back and allow me to pacify it."