As you all trawl along the river, you pass through many astounding caverns and tiny tunnels. There were several times you had to drop to the raft and lay down as the razor sharp rocks sailed mere inches from your faces. Other times, the rocks scraped along the side of your raft, gouging shallow lines into the zurkhwood planks. There were geysers of noxious yellow and green smoke that billowed from craggy rock walls, more zurkhwood forests, entire herds of what appeared to be rats, only they are 8 or 9 feet tall at the shoulder. The raft made its way through winding turns, in between massive cliffs where hungry eyes stared down at you over snarling lips and gnashing teeth. There were tense moments when tattered leathery wings flapped a staccato over your heads on two headed vulture creatures. As you sailed along, you passed in and out of faerzress patches, giving you some chance to study the effects of it. Through talking with Sarith, you realize that spending too many hours uninterrupted in an area suffused with the magical power is enough to drive someone to madness, a madness that could cause undue hostility, hallucinations, and unexplained mood swings.
Bildaweer and Dustin spend several days talking with one another about the mystical arcana that you both harness. You each manage to gather enough of the glowy fish to copy 2 more spells from one another (although I think Dustin can only copy those that have a ritual tag from Bildaweer).
Jimjar, Sarith, and Fang talked heavily about the Underdark and where they were headed. Fang, you and Jimjar are now able to navigate the Underdark with no penalties.
Cemos, you and Eldreth talked extensively about Dumathion and his graces. She expressed some interest in learning the path of the Paladin.
There were no areas throughout the four days where you could safely pull the raft off. You take turns sleeping on the raft, trusting on your shipmates to keep you from falling into the river. As your eyes begin to droop from tiredness on the fourth day of travel, you spot a place on the left bank of the river that appears to be large enough to pull over and go ashore. It seems relatively secure, and there is a stand of zurkhwoods. The only downside is that the whole area glows faintly with the telltale sign of the faerzress. While you have managed to get plenty of fish from the net, you've been unable to light a fire to cook them as you sail down the river. You've stretched the cooked fish from before and rations to near the breaking point. From here on, you'd have to chance raw fish if you want food if you don't stop.
I am unsure if we will have another chance to pull off between here and the end of our river path. I will stop us so we can make a team decision. Sarith says, as he and Derendil use their poles to guide the raft to the glowing bank area.
You have a choice to make. Do you continue down the river, chancing raw fish as your only food or do you stop in the faerzress-infused area for the night, chancing the madness once more in return for a chance to cure some additional foods for the next portion of your journey.
