Chapter 3: Meeting The Natives

She Who Has Been Beyond the Reef is scarcely over 5 feet tall and maybe 100 lbs., but she admonishes Elspa like a child.

"No, you are not 'clean enough' . Shit Eaters carry plague in the bad air around them. If you want to die in your bed roll shitting your guts out, go back to Shit Eater Island. You want to enter Panitube? Then honour the request of your host."

She Who Has Been Beyond the Reef merely shrugs and watches the two return to the beech. The drumming resumes and things start to go back to normal in the village. However, as She Who Has Been Beyond the Reef escorts you to your lodgings, you notice that some of the villagers look upon you with mistrust, while others avoid your gaze entirely. A brave few still show curiosity.

Your lodge is a spacious, round wooden hut with a thatched roof. There is one entrance, adorned with a string of scarlet lanterns, and once inside you find it spacious and cool. Empty windows ring the entire structure that can be shut with brightly-dyed canvas blinds. The only item of furniture is a long table with benches on either side.

Food is brought almost immediately. Wary villagers carry platters of smoked fish and roast chicken and pig on skewers, complemented with copious amounts of taro, cabbage, sweet potato, sugar cane, and coconut. A variety of nuts, herbs, and spices are liberally sprinkled on everything. Another set of villagers carry in bamboo mugs full of coconut water and another set contain strong mead. There is easily enough food for 2 full days of consumption.

The chief's daughter gestures for you to help yourselves.

"May you enjoy the legendary hospitality of Panitube! Now tell me, do you have other business here, or merely passing through on your way back to the Beyond?"

I can only speak for myself as I only recently join this group, but I think that we will only be passing through.
Moss takes very small bites of everything, keeping them in his mouth and closing his eyes doing satisfied sounds....

FRICK, JARVEENA, MOSS, YGNE

"It is okay, Jarveena, the Maimed. I have spent some time with your people; To hear Killer of Lizards and Saver of Kings speak this truth so plainly is refreshing. But, listen:"

Then she leans in close, and speaks in a quieter voice.

"This whole island is cursed. Venturing beyond our borders is very fucking dangerous. Others from beyond the reef have tried, and just make things worse"

She sits back up, adjusts her garments, and returns to her usual way of speaking.

At Jarveena's mention of passing through:

"And what do you mean passing through? Where are you going? There is no way off the islands anymore, not since that fukcing Farshore expedition."

At Moss's request:

"Ah, yes. Your filthy friends. Fine, but do not bring the platter back. And wash yourself, of course."

ELSPA AND RYGNAR

The beech is very spare of features and vegetation for quite a distance, likely by design to give invaders zero cover.

ELSPA AND RYGNAR

The two of you make your way along the beach. Eventually you come across the jagged opening of a cave, more like a wide crack in the cliff than anything. It would make effective shelter and be highly defensible, but no guarantee that some other creature thought the same thing and is holed up inside.

Your efforts to find herbs strong enough to cure a full-fledged disease have not yet come to fruition.

MOSS

While carrying the food to the beech, you get a chance to observe the village a bit more. Daily life has mostly resumed now that your counterparts are housed in the guest lodge. However, you hear people whispering to each other as you pass.

The 6 masked guardians are no longer here, and as you approach the stair to the beech you see that neither are Elspa and Rygnar. Looking around, you spy the mysterious white-masked figure cloaked in black feathers is heading toward the waterfall at the rear of the village.

The warrior on the bridge continues his exercises, seemingly oblivious to all events around him.