Chapter Five: Bapdis Orjo's Gift of Reconciliation

Zangua catches his breath, "Perhaps we should... find a better defend-able spot?"

Vhezyen lets his shield arm fall slack to his side. He could see Zangua was well-spent from the battle, having taken the brunt of the bird-lizards' assault. Knowing time was vital in addressing wounds, he moved without delay to help.

"Zangua... well fought. Allow me to help." He queitly spoke some words to Thoth, an effort to alleviate some of the damage Zangua had suffered. "Vicious damn beasts." Looking toward Felor as he finished his work, he continued, a bit of levity in his voice. "Told you he could talk bird."

With that, he gave a deep nod to Felor. "Whatever you said to those beasts... well played. Saved us all some bleeding, I'll wager." Having an appreciation for many members of the divine pantheon, Vhezyen continued. "Your goddess...Fjorgyn? Thanks to her as well."

"Perhaps we take a rest. As Zangua mentioned, in a better location. Away from these... flesh plants."

Nicely played Notinventedhere. Casting a 2nd level Cure Wounds on Zangua, just in case an assumed short rest goes poorly.

Felor watches the other bird-lizards flee, and leans on his spear. "Fjorgyn is with us, friends! Watching over us, and assisting our actions... yes, we must truly be on the right track if she guides us so."
He moves over to Zangua and puts a hand on the man's shoulder. "May her blessings be upon you."

Level 2 Cure Wounds on Zangua.
Not sure if this is a great place for a rest - the raptors or whatever's making that crashing noise might show up. The Charm Animals only works for 1 minute.

About fifty yards out from where it ambushed the party, the bird-lizard that Leth and Vhezyen attacked stops and collapses. The other three continue on running.

I'm seeing that in a very Terry-Gilliam-animation way, and I am enjoying it.

Mordred is at 17/28.

"Yes, I could use a rest, too, but not here."

How much further to the hilltop, and are the sounds coming from between us and the hill?

"Perhaps we backtrack just a bit, away from these foul and unnatural plants?" Vhezyen gestured to the east, toward the path they had taken to get to the stream.

Vhezyen is 18/40. Although, if we take a short rest (1 hour), I''d like to think the hit dice will cover it.
It looks like about a mile to the south based on the map, us being at the northern part of the island at the end of the west stream, where it empties out into the sea. Since the bird-lizard sounds are coming from the south, the hill might even be a nesting area.

I think advancing into the unknown to look for a spot to rest is bad business (flora, fauna, and more being considerations). If we relocate let's just backtrack 10 minutes (although I don't think it would stop the dinos from finding us), take the hour short rest, then follow the stream toward the hill. Either way, we don't know what's at, on, around, or potentially inside the hill. No matter how we proceed, I think it would be best if we made our final approach to the hill at the start of a new day, leaving right before sunrise, arriving early morning. It shouldn't take long to get there via Leth's pathfinding. A full day to explore the hill would be a lot better than ending up there at sunset or as nightfall sets in.

Even without the threat of monsters, dusk/night means our ability to see and effectively explore is compromised. Darkvision and torches, with their very limited range/illumination, would be practically useless while trying to explore the outdoors at night, and something easily spotted at a distance during daylight could be completely missed in the dark (e.g., a cave, a hut, etc). Furthermore, using torches/light spells in the dark will paint us as clear targets for whatever might exist on the island.

Ultimately, I think it would be simple enough to just short rest, make our way upstream some, then camp for the night.

"Any suggestions as to where?" asks Zangua. "I mean, it's not like we got a bird's-eye view of this place."

"My friend here," Vhezyen says to Zangua, extending his arm, allowing Quggyeb to land and perch on his wrist, "has shown me the island, exactly from a bird's eye view. The stream leads to a hill, about a mile south of here."

Vhezyen looks back to the east again, then addresses Morded. "If you don't want to rest here," he looks at the flesh plants with dismay, "which I can appreciate, we should follow familiar terrain east, along the path already taken, and regroup, rest for a moment there. We needn't travel far, I think. However, despite their smell, I think the plants harmless, and the beasts will likely find us again no matter where we go."

Perhaps we are over complicating this? Octo suggested the flesh plants were harmless, and that there's plenty of daylight left (suggesting that my concerns for nightfall at the hill are unwarranted); I'm taking both of those for GM speak that means "don't worry about that". Maybe we just save some real world time and take a simple short rest, right here, and then push on?

Zangua seems unimpressed, though it may be a product of practicality on this dangerous island as his mind races to think up a better defense. "And does he... she? It? See any more of those bigger birds?"

Mordred takes a knee for a minute and spends 2 hit dice.

EDIT: Back to full health, ready to move on!

While the group forms a plan of action, Zangua takes the opportunity to rest his legs.