Chapter 2 - The Twilight

Shaw removes himself from the conversation to take care of the blocked up ship bite.
Katkoni, the tzelicrae that guided them to the town, is already working on it. When they spot Shaw approach, they say: "Don't worry, I'm taking care of this. Your crew is already doing so much for us."

Shaw still takes a look at the bite. It's nothing dramatic, just some thick ironroot branches stuck in the machinery. Nothing seems to be actually damaged. It will take some time to remove but it's elementary and Katkoni seems to know what they're doing.

Caitriona settles in munching on one of the large green fruits the Councilors from Narrow Plate had given them and starts working on her bow again, she's made some progress but not nearly as much as she'd hoped for.

Elrenna decides to spend the time checking on any other injuries that she might find and searching for other things to harvest for future use in medicinal or culinary uses, it's come in surprisingly handy in the past and even recently so the behavior to scrounge has been reinforced, a scavenger's urge that brings her a sense of peace even while she is deeply uncomfortable with the things that wend and warp their way through her subconscious.

Elrenna scrounges about while keeping an eye out on the surroundings, combining her gathering of resources with scouting just in case the people in the bizarre ships return to finish what they started.

The three sailors spend the evening hours separately with individual projects. Elrenna looks for more injured and treats a few minor wounds but finds nothing that requires serious attention so she instead begins looking around for resources. While circling around the town, she discovers something interesting, a broken chitinous plate, around the size of her head but flat and shimmering black like the huge beetles - or beetleships - they saw on their way here.Shaw works hard on the Fading Dawn's bite, sharpening its edges, greasing the mechanisms, until she ship is running smoother than before, at least for the moment.

Caitriona continues working on her bow but for every step forward in the construction that she makes, something else falls apart again. It just seems like today, her hands aren't fit to craft anything complex.
Eventually, she gives up, stores the materials away again and heads to the large house which has become the sleeping quarter for the entire remaining town to speak with the injured ardent, the brother of one of the Narrowplate council members for whom they are carrying a letter.
He is awake, lying in his improvised bed on the floor below the hammocks strung up for the other townspeople who are still agile enough to climb up to them.
Cait hands him the letter and explains that it is sent by his brother and the man, Senan, opens and reads it carefully. "I wish I had better news for Wellon," Senan says to Cait when he is finished. "But maybe my survival will at least be some relief to him. Thank you for bringing me this. I will write a reply and give it back to you by morning so you can take it to him. I wish I could come with you to Narrowplate as he suggests in here but I can't leave this place while my spouse is in the hands of these monsters."

Satisfied with his work on the Fading Dawn, Shaw leaves the ship for a quick relaxing stroll. With no particular destination in mind, Shaw simply takes in the sites as he moves about.

"Relax," Caitriona says to Senan pulling her hair back into a ponytail, "maybe we'll get lucky and figure out a way to get her back for you." She shrugs, "Stranger things have been known to happen."

"Them, not her," Senan corrects. "They are a tzelicrae." He pushes himself into a slightly more upright position. "If you have a plan for getting them and all the others that have been taken back, I will do whatever I can to assist - even if it may not be much in my current state - but these beetleship sailors are experienced warriors and not to be underestimated."

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As Shaw wanders around the town, he once again notices that most of the population here are tzelicrae, though about a third maybe are composed of members of other bloodlines, primarily the mushroom-like gau. He is regarded with curiosity but not approached by anyone. It seems the villagers are all busy with their own projects, repairs on buildings, cutting down the Tangle around town, cooking...