HSI: The Island

Gwydion puts the meat aside and moves to wake up Halor. "Halor, someone or something is out there. And its singing."

Mauve bolts upright instantly awake. What was that? For a moment I thought I was a little girl at home in my parents' kitchen but that was no dream.

When she hears singing she grabs her bow and stands up. Her brow furrows in surprise. Looking at the others she shrugs, her eyes asking the question of whether they should investigate.

Halor rouses easily, though with some discomfort. He had slept in his armor due to the uncertainty of their environment. He rubs at his temple with one hand and sits up. "Singing?" he asks, confused at first, then strains to listen. "It's far away," Halor adds, "probably nothing to worry ourselves over tonight, but best to take note."

He looks up to the stars. "About time for me to take over. You go ahead and get some sleep."

Gwydion looks off towards the singing. "Yeah, better not to go wandering off." He finishes storing the dried meat and tries to get some sleep while listening to the far off signing.

"I won't be able to sleep now. I'm up. I don't think we should ignore that .. whatever it is. Just because it isn't close now doesn't mean it won't be closer soon. The singing might be to make us drop our guard, Halor. We should take a look in the morning. Doesn't look like we are alone."

Mauve settles down by the fire, rebraids her hair, and stares into the fire. She wonders if the voice isn't some kind of mermaid that calls sailors onto the rocks. She'd heard tales....

"Ignore? Not at all, Mauve. I planned to listen and make sure it stays away. But if you've a mind to join me for watch, I wouldn't complain, and we can investigate perhaps in the morning." He joins Mauve at the fire, taking a long stick and poking at one of the logs, if only to watch as some of the embers escape into the moonlight.

"What do you make of this place, anyway?" he asks after some time, "I'm not good with geography, never much cared for it, but I still get the sense this place is off somehow. The captain, as much a dolt as he was, at least had experience at sea, and he seemed right surprised when this place popped up in front of us."

The only music Fafnir hears is the sound of his own snoring. He's the most comfortable he's been in weeks, and resting well and dreaming of large women. He'll rouse without complaint if anyone decides to give him a sharp nudge, but not likely otherwise.

Gonnar too, sleeps like a rock. Belly full of roast bird, head full of ideas and worries, all stemming from the island…

Day 2: 12:00 AM - 8:00 AM
The song continues for a while. It's a ways off to the southeast. At one point, the singing seems to come closer to the camp. It moves away again before stopping. After an hour or so, there is another crash of dishes. This one is much further away. If there is singing, it's too distant to hear.

The second watch is always the toughest. Halor starts to wink out in the early morning hours. Luckily Mauve is there to keep him awake. The second watch passes without any challenges.

Halor passes the baton to Gonnar. The third and final watch of the first night passes without any encounters. Soon, the sun is shining and the day begins to heat up.

Well rested, Fafnir rises and limbers up. He thanks the group for keeping watch while he rested. "I'm in for the next watch." The singing unnerves him a bit, and is left wondering if any demons sing.

But say anything about Fafnir, say that he excels at putting things out of his mind. He tends to his gear as he discusses next moves. "So, shall we return to the ship and share them news about the place? Or keep on exploring to find something more significant than dire chickens to tell them about?"

"Should pass along some of this bird meat, yah?" Gonnar says as he helps pack up the makeshift camp. He looks to the jungle, though, when he adds, "Where was this singing coming from?"

Mauve is glad to have Halor join her at the fire and discuss the strange island.

"It's off alright. Huge birds. Singing? An island that pops up out of nowhere. It's not right and I have a feeling we might find out how wrong it is when we start exploring."

After a time of silent staring into the fire, Mauve notices Halor nodding off. "Hey you.". Grabbing his fire stick she pokes him with it. "I might fall asleep and if we both doze we might get taken in our sleep by dishpans and bards."

Later, the others begin to rustle around "Good morning. Seems like some of us got some good sleep! I agree someone should take some meat to them. Since I'm the ship's captain I delegate that responsibility to you, Gonnar. Then we should start making our way toward that godawful singing."

"You’re not my captain, woman," Gonnar says plainly, but soon enough he’s packing up a bundle of meat. "Will be back soon as I can. Who’s coming with?"

Halor startles as he starts to nod off, feeling a slight poke to his ribs. "Uh?" he grunts, "Bards? No, no, that would be terrible." He smiles and continues to make small talk and tend the fire until he can finally get some sleep as Gonnar takes over watch.

---

Having gathered his gear and prepared for a day of adventure into the unknown he relents to retrace their footsteps and get some early exercise in before seeking new sights. "I'll join you, Gonnar. Walking the sand is a good means to stretch the muscles before the day starts."

Fafnir will offer to return the bow and arrows to Gonnar, and join him and Halor on the way back to the boat. "Stretching, sure. Good idea. We're not as young as we look!"

"Yes," Gonnar says to Smyth as they start walking, and he then nods to Fafnir when the big man joins them as well.

"Ship looked good and grounded," the badlander says as they walk. "Could be here a while. Should we make a more permanent shelter, or explore the larger island? The singing last night... we might want to find them before they find us."

"Could not agree more," Halor says, "If there is a fight in our future, might as well seek it out rather and take it to them on our own terms. Exploring the immediate surroundings are well and good, but if we end up being here for a while I agree a more permanent shelter makes sense."

"If we don't look around the area how will we know it's even safe to make a camp? I don't know about you Halor, but I'm not interested in having some giant turtle or snake kill me while I sleep. I like to look my killer in the eye, you know? Gonnar is right about finding the singer before they find us. We can decide on a camp then."

Mauve knew she wasn't really in charge, at least not on dry land but they had to at least explore if for nothing else than food and water, materials for camp, and anything else that could find inland.

"You mistake me, Mauve. I am in agreement. Setting up more permenant shelter can wait. Inveatigating the singing and further exploration first. Fresh water, for one thing, is an absolute must."

Fafnir doesn't say much, other than to grunt his approval of the plans the others are hatching. He is most vocal finding singing killers and looking them in the eyes. "Stabbing killers in the eyes is even better," he offers.