Episode 1

Kray and Ivor sweep around on a large loop and approach the third house on the shoreline from the south, while Qiu and Thorn cover the northern view and approach. Talius keeps the Driftwood dregs occupied at the cook fire.

After a thorough search of the house and the broader surrounding area, they find no one else in the settlement. Thorn points out the place where he thinks he saw the figure, underneath the stilts of the house. Upon close inspection, the group finds what may be signs of recent foot prints below the house, but the results are not absolutely definitive. Down below the house (further south) there may be signs of a raft or boat pulling up in the sand, but it is unclear if those tracks might be from Maerik's skiff that is also nearby and is apparently used by the big simpleton every day or so as he paddles out onto some of the small islands and nearby landing to gather berries, herbs, and oil leaves and also to check the teams' foot traps and drowning traps that they use to catch small game.

After the effort, the party feels pretty certain that no one is in the settlement structures, but must admit that someone could have been earlier, and that there is surely the possibility that onlookers could view the settlement from afar. No doubt that the swamp forest provides a nearly endless amount of hide sites.


As for payment to Mac Ru: a dinner donation of bread and any berries, fruits, vegetables, etc. (enough for 3 guys) will do fine. He is a bit frustrate with scoring no wine or liquor, but 10-12 gold coins buys his happiness plus 1 - 3 canoes or rafts. Maeriks can take you to a place on the southwest corner of the settlement where he has a bunch of small boats stashed, at an old dock and pulled up in the overgrown weeds nearby it.

Mac Ru does not elaborate much to Talius about the augmentations to The Hive. He is not sure about the nature of it, only that the Neighbors promise freedom from sickness and increased strength and vitality, and that it at least does seem to work for some of the devout followers of The Neighbors.

Why people go? What do they get out of it? He says the last group likely went out of desperation, to avoid starvation, exposure and sickness during the winter. Before that, some people bought into the idea that the Neighbors would make the Bat Hannoc clan stronger, increase their territory, and strike out against their enemies abroad. That did not seem to work out. The people who were instead struck down were the Bat Hannocs who refused to acquiesce to The Neighbors.

Kray and Ivor, working with Thorn again later also so that he could comment on the positioning of the fleeting image he saw, feel like they probably are tracking the footprints for a short ways. They seem to go under the house, south a short ways across the waterline, and then stop in the shallow water. It is difficult to confirm exactly because the walker was apparently stepping through the water, so tracking in the murk beneath the surface becomes impossible after a short distance. There are some lines and divots in the muck of the shoreline nearby, down near the stilts of the fourth and final house south on the shoreline. The marks could have been caused by a raft being pulled to and from the water, but that is unclear. And even if so, it could have been one of Maeriks boats because he is said to land around that same area from time to time after his boating trips.

Using some of the open viewpoints above the lake, everyone can get an idea of where the sun is in the sky. It is now mid-afternoon, with the temperature likely at the fullest heat of the day this next hour or so.

The three Bat Hannocs are finishing up the fish cleaning. Their fire is burning well now and they have the hanging cauldron over it,
boiling water.

Taking two small boats, the group departs from Driftwood, paddling eastward on An Tulacheo. At first the waters are shallow and it is necessary to steer the boats between trees and small mini-island plots of land. Eventually the water opens up, the depths increasing, and they begin to paddle across a long open lake that has only a few trees here and there emerging from the water.

Distant shorelines can be seen to the south and very far away in the east. To the north, and closer, more water-breaching trees grow and the shoreline is not so well defined - a large flooded forest.

It is easy to spot in the medium distance eastward: Old Island, or so it would seem as it matches the description given - a plod of low ground in the middle of an open water expanse, a cluster of trees that are growing out of the water and gather together in a thicket on a small island.

After rowing for about 20 minutes to get to the open water, and then about 25 minutes on a lengthy approach to the island, the group is able to get an increasingly better view. Though the shoreline is not clearly defined, the cropping of trees is about 400 meters across, oblong to 300 meters across the other way.

It appears that the higher ground (only slightly higher) is in the center and north end of the island. Though the trees are thick, a few small simple structures can be seen, offset further inland from the shoreline. All of the structures, from this vantage point, seem to be very primitive structure, in severe disrepair, and largely overgrown by vegetation.

No activity is seen on the island so far, except for a few alligators and egrets that can be seen at a few places along the shore in the shallows.



The trees and brush create a thick barrier that limits visibility. Trying to see through the trees, it seems that more structures can be seen further inland, in the more northern middle of the island.

To see with any sure detail, the group will certainly have to land and investigate further.

The group circles around the north east side of the island and pulls the two canoes up to a gradually sloping bank covered with weeds and undergrowth. They stash the canoes under cover, but also available for easy access and quick removal and relaunch. After stopping for a moment to listen, look, and sense their new surroundings, the group moves forward through the woods, slowly and cautiously toward the north and central section of the island.

It is not long before they see more of the simple structures that were seen as examples on the west island edges. Again, these are not the more advanced build style as the stilt houses of Driftwood. They are of a more primitive nature, apparently built by Bat Hannocs of an earlier generation than those who structured Driftwood. No houses seen initially are on stilts. Most are either wigwam style buildings, simple crossed-log and lean-to shelters, or triangular shacks. Also throughout the areas around and between structures are planks, boards, and low bridges lying about and crossing stretches of ground.

All of the shelters and network of walkways and decks are worn out by weather, decayed by time. Many are either completely or partially flooded. It is clear now that the island must have once sat at least a few feet higher above the level of the surrounding water. The over all scene paints the story of either a sinking ground or a rising river system, surely occurring gradually over the course of years.

The group proceeds cautiously all the while, looking for any signs of habitation but also any signs of threat or surveillance.

After passing through a few groupings of overgrown and abandoned dwellings, they come to a final set of structures near the north end of the island, which is covered in the thickest trees and has the most rises of true solid ground. This group of shelters still looks severely worn, largely flooded, and equally outdated, but it must be called the most intact set of structures. Some of the stick huts are built on stilts and elevated planks built around trees. There are no signs of fire or recent habitation likely, but at the same time the small set of shelters looks as if it could have been more recently hospitable.
The group is approaching from the southeast corner of this site, having moved roughly west across the island so far. Out beyond this grouping of shelters, seen on the other side opposite from the party and slightly north, seems to be a clump of dark heavily covered trees that rises up slightly (very slightly) as higher ground. It is not exactly clear from this distant and vantage point, but there seems to be a larger building that is assembled around and between a group of large old trees.

From somewhere in the area, a light whiff of smoke. Somewhere nearby, a fire is burning. The direction from which the smell comes is not yet clear.