Chapter 4: The Waters of Menehune

Not yet letting down his guard, Admiral narrows his eyes and leans out over the edge of the cliff slightly, scanning the dense jungle below for any sign of movement.

"Let's go down and say hi," Regan suggests as Admiral peers over the edge.

Admiral peers over the moss-draped cliff tracking the flurry of motion as the boggles scatter into the jungle. Their panicked retreat seems chaotic at first—branches snapping, eel-hounds snarling as they vanish into the shadows—but his keen gaze catches something others might miss.

Some of the boggles aren't simply fleeing. They're blinking in and out of sight, slipping their hands or feet through shimmering, barely-there rifts in the air—dimensional tears, perhaps, no larger than their small frames. Many vanish through these portals only to instantly reappear at the edge of, or in the undergrowth, behind trees, roots, thick vines, and stubs. To Admiral it appears to be not just escape—it’s tactical repositioning.

After moments the gorge clearing is eerily still, Admiral follows the trail of their movement. Some boggles had disappeared entirely into the dense jungle out of his sight, but he spots others, settle into low, crouching positions—motionless and waiting. His keen sight spots the glint of eyes.

Apparently, they haven’t given up the prize.

Admiral shakes his head. "The slimy little devils are smarter than they look. It’s a trap, see?" He sends two more eldritch blasts into the undergrowth where the boggles are hidden, revealing their location to the others.

Admiral’s blasts streak through the air and explode in the undergrowth with a crack, ripping through ferns and consequently exposing the boggles' tactics. The nearest creatures yelp in surprise, scuttling backward as the illusion of safety shatters.

From deeper in the jungle, the boggle chief barks a furious command in his garbled, bubbling tongue—sharp, panicked, and final. The remaining boggles break cover and vanish into the trees. Discerning eyes of the party notice small blinking frames fleeing in the rustling undergrowth. The chief’s eel-hound can be seen take a full lunge over a heap of vines, and with one last bark, disappears into the jungle.

Still the mesmerized boggles and humans remain standing silently incapacitated in the open gorge.

"Now the coast is clear," Admiral declares, sheathing his sword and making his way toward the tangle of roots. They could finish off the stupefied boggles before heading down there, but he’d rather get the prisoners out of harm’s way first.

Regan follows along, and climbs down once be reaches the roots.

Taresh and Jin follow Admiral and Regan to the roots where Mischa and Tasya are.

Mischa says, "I'll stay here so I can concentrate on holding the boggles. Shaking them will free them from my control."

"I'll stay up here with her," Tasya insists looking around at undergrowth behind them.

When Regan begins his climb the thick roots prove to make excellent footholds. He has no problem...until, they begin to sway and shift unnaturally, as if they willfully try to shift away from each step as if playing a game.

"...seriously..."

Admiral digs his claws into the wriggling roots to get a better grip, but he grew up on a pirate ship so he’s had a lot of practice climbing and swinging in the rigging. The shifting roots pose no difficulty for him and he lands on the ground with a bit of acrobatic flourish. "Ha! That was fun!"

Regan easily fights his way down the roots despite their intentional shifting underfoot and prodding at his armor. The knight is followed by Admiral, who clearly has some fun during his descent. His agile performance inspires Jin, who follows, turning on the circus entertainer in him while trying to out do Admiral's performance.

At the bottom the astonished ringleader says, "Not too bad captain. When we get the ship back and get out of this feywild, you should consider joining our troupe. After that display, I can think of a number of new acts to cast you in. We make good and honest money...although, I'm not sure how the return compares to pirating though." Jin's stress of the word 'honest' reveals his inherent mistrust of pirates.

Cordey and Taresh drop down into the gorge as Jin finishes his recruitment pitch.

The humans and boggles stand, still motionless with blank stares, only feet away.

Admiral raises an eyebrow, equal parts amused and annoyed by the offer. "Honest, aye? Well, as nice as that sounds, I don’t think I’ll be running away to the circus anytime soon. I have responsibilities, to my ship and to my crew, and I wouldn’t abandon them for all the gold in the world. Call it dishonest if you like, but I’m not disloyal."

He turns to shake the humans out of their daze.

"I understand that responsibility," acknowledges Jin with a deep sigh, looking back up toward the top of the cliff where Tasya and Mischa are still. "I didn't ask to lead my troupe, but I would never abandon them." The magician turned ringleader gives Admiral a nod of respect and follows Admiral's gaze toward the humans.

"Before we go waking anyone up..." With a flick of his wrist, his warhammer appears in-hand as he steps behind the first boggle. "That kid don't need to see this," is all Regan says as he pulls back.

Admiral had been about to shake the barbarian woman out of her daze, but hesitates when he sees Regan take a swing at the boggle. He swiftly draws his sword and gets ready to finish off the boggle if Regan's hammer doesn't do the job.

The group works together to drop the unwitting boggles. In no time they pose no further threat. Only the stupefied humans remain.