HSI: The Island

Fafnir swings his sword down onto the creature. He slices through two vines that had moved up to block the sword. A foul smelling ichor squirts from the severed vines and sprays into the darkness. The sword digs deep into the stump with a loud *thwock* and Fafnir has to pull to wrench the blade free. The high pitched squeal increases in pitch and intensity and the vines whip around violently, attempting to fend off the attacks.

Halor swings his hammer into what he assumes to be the central system of the creature: that gasping void from which the vines stretch that must contain the closest thing it has as a head. Whatever was there is reduced to a thick, gelatinous pulp of green matter as the tentacles go limp.

"Not my idea of a relaxing evening," he says through ragged breaths. Obviously shaken, the cracks showing in his usual veneer of bravery, he regains his composure and grins at his companions.

With the creature finally defeated, it gives you all a chance to take a closer look. Feathery leaves cover the central mass of this beast ... or plant. It's hard to tell what it is. About a dozen vines, all dotted with red flowers and orange peppers, snake out from the central cluster. The ends of some vines widen into diamond-shaped leaflike structures whose underside is covered in barbs, helping the plant grasp its prey. The peppers appear similar to one's back home. Could they be edible?

Fafnir embraces Halor, howling with laughter, and lifts him clean off the ground. "My brother-in-arms! We thought you might be meeting your god this night! And what a tale you would have told him if you did."

He wipes the ichor spatter from his clothes and face, and wipes his blade clean. "Magus Gwyndion, I don't know what your spell did to the monster, but clearly it worked! Are the remains of this creature of any interest to you? You seemed mighty curious in docile plants, I can just imagine the excitement you must feel about the murderous ones!

"Well done Halor. I thought you were done for! I was beginning to think that Fanir really was a curse! Glad to see you untangled from that mess." Mauve winks at Fafnir and examines the vines now that the threat of death has passed if only for a moment.

"Hey Gwydion, what do you think of this stuff? I mean apart from it being pretty in places do you think we can eat these pepper shaped things?"

"Oh and look!" Mauve plucks a red flower from a vine and places it in her hair, prancing in a small circle. "How do I look fellas? What do you think Fafnir?"

Gonnar is silent as the others celebrate, embracing, prancing, plucking petals. Hammer in hand, he searches the surrounded area for more of the accursed plants or other threats. When he completes a circuit and returns to the group, he kneels and cleans the pulpy slime from the end of his maul.

"You were at our camp when this thing grabbed you?" he asks Halor gruffly. When the man nods, he adds, "It was hunting. What kind of plant hunts a man?"

"Be careful, it might nibble your ear off in your sleep!"

He's tending to his gear when Gonnar return. The big man sounds perturbed by the man-eating plants, and he listens for how Halor responds. Personally, Fafnir is loving this island. It has a lot to do with how terrible his sea voyage was, sure, but the challenge of it all was intoxicating to him almost as much as the camaraderie. Really made him feel alive. But, more level-headed folk than himself might have words of wisdom for him.

"Whoah!" Halor exclaims in a half-grunt, half-laugh as Fafnir lifts him in embrace, "Careful there - it's not too late for me to meet my maker this night!"

When released he continues to laugh. "Thanks, friends. That was truly too close for comfort. It's, uh, my turn to get some shut-eye, right?"

Halor turns half away from the others and closes his eyes, whispering a prayer to Vulkir and bathing himself in the brief glow of healing light. He stretches his shoulders and tosses his hammer up, end over end, catching it again in his meaty grip. "Much better," he says, the bravado fully returned to his voice, "Everyone else okay?"

"I much prefer hunting plants to the other way around." Gwydion comments to Fafnir and Mauve. He gathers up several samples of the flowers and peppers and takes them back to camp. When he has a little downtime, he will slice one of the peppers up and do everything short of actually eating one to see if it should be eaten.

Day 2 - Midnight to 4:00 AM
Halor's watch was almost over when he was attacked, so Gonnar agrees to take over and let the cleric sleep. The excitement of battle has Gonnar's blood racing anyways. He hears something moving through the forest, but it is deep in the jungle to the east. It must be huge. Gonnar can hear the sound of trees cracking as if being torn asunder. The noise moves no closer and soon dies off. The balance of the watch is uneventful. By the time Gwyndion's watch comes around, Gonnar is ready for his second rest.

Day 2 - 4:00AM to 8:00 AM
Gwyndion is quick to rise. He's had a fitful sleep. The thoughts of this new plant have been racing through his mind all night. At one point he considered getting up and switching watches, but Gonnar had already sat through a part of his watch. It did not seem fair to disrupt the warrior's sleep more than necessary.

Gwyndion wasted no time. He brought the peppers near the firelight to study. The bright orange peppers were conical in shape and just about filled Gwyndion's hand. The skin was smooth and shiny, but did not have much of a scent. That changed when Gwyndion cut it open. The scent was strong and pungent. The flesh on the inside was plump and filled with small white seeds. The slices released a small amount of juice and It wasn't long before it irritated Gwyndion's fingers.

"What, Oh!" Mauve immediately swats the flower from her hair and steps back away from it as it lands on the ground in front of her. "So much for that pretty touch."

"I am heading back for more beauty sleep," she says as she attempts to resume her dramatically interrupted night's rest.

As she passes Gwydion she says, "Enjoy that but be careful. If you are still there and alive when I wake up, we know we are safe from the pepper plants."

Gwydion began to swear softly and wiped his hands on a rag to try and remove the stinging pepper juice from his hands. He'd known peppers that sting the eyes if touched after slicing but if these were stinging on his skin, then these were clearly not for eating. The pepper juice might have some uses though. Gwydion packs the rest of the peppers away securely in his pack.

Fafnir rises, feeling like a king for how great he slept. The temperature was more bearable at night, his body was starting to get accustomed to keeping down food, and he was surrounded by people who didn't want to kill him or rob him (probably). By the Hells, they probably needed him. He rubs his scarred forearm reflexively, reminding himself not to get too attached.

Fafnir gets up early and tends to the camp, as is custom if you're healthy and don't take a watch at night. Hey lays out a breakfast for the crew.

As everyone wakes up he will greet them and hand them their grub, accompanied with an eager "Ready to find that tower today?" or a hearty "What a beautiful sunrise!"