Chapter 3: Meeting The Natives

"Shit! You came from that island?"

The woman points to the island you came from and then speaks to the others in their mother tongue. There is a murmur of surprise that spreads through the group, and you detect a hint of approval. Someone makes a comment and the whole group bursts into laughter.

Laughing, she adds "That is a story that I must hear one day. I am Khiva of the Jaguar, first daughter of Kava - chief of Panitube - and She Who Has Gone Beyond The Reef. Who the hell are you?"

They toss down a cloth-wrapped bundle that clatters at your feet, opening to reveal ivory rods and simple, colourful garments of style that you see other villagers wearing.

"Scrub yourselves with these in the ocean to rid yourself of the smell and disease of the Shit Eaters. These clothes are yours if you wish them. These are our gifts to you in thanks for killing fucking Shit Eaters."

She then gestures to a stair cut into the rock in the cliff face, and the six black-clad figures standing at the top. Their faces are covered in a hammered copper mask that have the contours of a face but with no openings for eyes or mouth.

"When you are clean, our ancestors will bring you to your hut, where we will talk more. You will keep your weapons because we respect you as warriors. But there will be many with weapons watching you, because we respect you as warriors. I tell this to you not to frighten you, but to make sure there are no misunderstandings."

"Have I made myself clear, Moss the Healer; Ygne the Wicked, Killer of Lizards and Saver of Kings; Elspa, Friend of Bear, First Hunter of the Grey Pack, and Iron Wolf of the Sea Witch; Frick, Drinker of Booze and Killer of Shit that Needs Killing; and Jarveena the Maimed?"

Although the ocean does a pretty good job of washing way the grim, no matter how hard your rub your skin with your hand, the smell of Troglodyte does not come off. You look to your pack members and see them scrubbing the rod against their skin. When you give it a try, you discover the ivory rod seems to pull the smell from your skin on contact, and begin to exude the absorbed odour themselves instead.

You conclude the ivory rods are possessed of powerful magics.