Chapter 2: It's a Jungle Out There

Dalton felt the wave of healing. Combined with the magic mud, he was feeling healed, but stiff.

"Checking where that thing came from and if there are more, probably good idea... in a few minutes."

Dalton also made no move to stand up right away. After about 5 more minutes he reluctantly climbed to his feet.

"Al, this mud really works, but I would love a shower at this point. I think they said that thing came from below, so might be a hole in the back of the cave somewhere."

"Yeah, I'm gonna take this moment to rest too."

AJ sits down with the others, leaning her back against a cave wall. After a minute, her eyes close as she focuses on the well of flame within her. The vision of fire is clear within her mind's eye. Her soul continues to burn, filling her with warmth and power. Grinning, she opens her eyes and stands up to join the party 10 minutes later.

"Let us ensure that the likes of this abomination will never return."

The edges of her shadow shifted like a pyre on the wall behind her. Reconnecting with that well made her feel powerful, and she always had a flare for the dramatic.

Once everyone seemed ready, Novac reluctantly got up. "Okay, I guess I'll go first. I'll try to sneak up to anything ahead of us." He thought for a moment and added, "Maybe we should stay closer together this time." Novac carefully started working his way deeper into the cave, his eyes peeled for any traps or monsters ahead of him.

Dalton nodded to Novac, "My old life, I'm about at quiet as a train wreck, but I'm definitely fast and quiet now. If you want to take point, I can hang back ten feet or so. Although, it will get dark the farther in we go, so once we need light, quiet won't matter so much with the light giving us away."

"Good point," Novac takes the lantern he had taken when the elves gave them some equipment. "I thought this might come in handy at one point. Still, it helps to be quiet."

Novac smiles at Gorsok. "Thank you for these trinkets; they will significantly improve our chances of survival in the coming days. I wish you and your family good fortune." Turning to his companions, he suggests, "Perhaps we should make some progress before we settle down for the night?"

"We're glad to have helped! Thank you very much for these as well. We've got a long journey ahead of us, and these treasures might be the difference between life and death. Do you know of any other dangers we might best avoid in the area on our way to Nantambu?"

AJ smiles and releases a heavy exhale while observing the fruits of their accomplishment. Looking to Nova, she simply nods, not wanting to waste any time.

Al thanks Gorsok for the gifts and turns to his party.

Yea, let's get going. The sooner we get out of this jungle, the better. At the very least, I'll keep an eye out for magic. Or what I think is magic... I can sort of see an aura around that crystal.

Dalton thanks the kobolds for their gifts also as the group gets ready to continue their journey.

With her inner monologue overridden by the intensity of how sick she felt, AJ just stayed lying down in her tent, waiting for the stomach pain to pass.

"I feel like death. I don't think I'm going to get very far if we move."

Her voice was hoarse, barely loud enough to be heard through the tent.

Seeing that his companions have all fallen ill, Al will try and find some water for them to wash or cool themselves.

No rush, AJ. We can take our time today and see how we’re all faring. I can try and scout ahead in a bit to get an idea of our surroundings.

Novac feeling like shit decides to take it slow. Probably the damage fight. You don't get half your body bitten of without consequences.

"Let's not travel today. If we face any dangers, we won't stand a chance. Almost dying yesterday was enough for me." Novac takes out the healers kit and rummages through it in search for anything that would help with his condition.

Dalton felt horrible agonizing stomach pains, sadly he was quite accustomed to such things. To bad he had not been carrying his Pepto when he went out to shovel snow. He felt very disappointed, having been in this new form for a while, he thought that all of his past issues were put into the past life, but here he was suffering as he had so often before. It was not until he realized that two other members of the group were also struggling that he realized it might be environmental and not his normal dietary issues.

"I agree, we seem to need some rest. We should probably be boiling our drinking water. Anyone grab a cooking pot when collecting supplies?"

Dalton digs through the healing supplies, pulling out a few items which look like they will help with the symptoms that they were dealing with. As he began to mix a couple of things which he knew would help, he wondered again how he knew these things would help.

Not knowing what he was truly dealing with, Dalton treated himself as best he could, trying to stay hydrated and making sure the others did as well. He remained by the fire while he could - curled up in his sleeping space when he needed to rest.

Dalton decided it best to take the strange potion they had been given, not knowing how bad this could get, but seeing that Novac was suffering poorly already.

AJ briefly opens her eyes to watch the others.

"It seems like y'all know what you're doing. Any advice? Other than just laying here and trying not to die. The most ill I've ever been before was the flu, and I was bedridden for a week..."

Her brain was too fogged by fatigue and fever to really feel any emotion strongly, but she knew logically she should be scared. But all she wanted was to just sleep.