We have been moving up the river for the last few days,
heading SW to the inlet and march NW through the woods towards what we believe
is the main village. Chants from the
natives put the crew on edge. Rod has
questioned them and they tell her that it is a challenge… “Come to the game”
and invoking Cha-Qloa, a name we have not heard before. King says it is the ‘Spirit of the Hunt”. Counter songs have no effect. It seems too easy. We know there are many of the enemy out there
but they are letting us pass and rest up from the volcano. The watchers at night though disturb our
sleep.
About a day or so from the inlet, midday, standing on an outcropping rock,
stands a man, wearing a skull like mask, headdress, and staff who stares at us. Refusing to respond, he
radiates evil and magic. We pass
underneath him . He does nothing but watch.
Dawn approaches as does the inlet and beach. The old man is there, along w/ near a score
of armed warriors. Sensing his emotions
show anticipation.. fear… expectation. We
beach the boat and step off. When the
rest of the crew attempts to leave, the others get very excited. We stop. The old man beckons just us forward asking us
to set down our weapons. We do and move
to him, intuition telling us that this is a parlay. He is the ‘Speaker’. He tells us that they have what we want but
that they have hidden it. Since we have
performed their ‘ritual’ at the volcano, we are under safe passage. We must find the ‘Hunt’, survive, and then we
will leave w/ our prize. The Speaker
places a symbol on our foreheads in some sort of substance. It tingles.
A wave of vertigo passes over us.
They turn and leave. King informs
us that the symbol is ‘of the hunt spirit’ and will keep us from being attacked
by the locals. We are now part of the ‘hunt’ and will face ourselves in the
‘Deep, Dark, Jungle’. The ‘other
lands’, the land of spirit.
We beach the boat on the north side of the lagoon and set
off, only the five of us, into the JUNGLE.
Strongbow, Echo, Rod, Ackdor, and King. Cloying heat surrounds us. Everything seems to radiate magic. Rod says
she feels off… dizzy. Echo, King, and
Ackdor also feel it but not I. Rod says
the world feels ‘empty’, as if all the people are gone. Night falls and we camp. Minor annoyances only. In the morning, an aerial reconnaissance by
Rod shows we are surrounded by jungle as far as the eye can see. There is no sun, only light. Strongbow’s Gem of Direction spins
incoherently. Planning for our future,
we spot bananas and coconuts along w/ fresh water.
Eventually we come to a clearing. In the center, about a half mile across, is a
lake. In the center is a small island containing some trees and a smoking
campfire. No presences are noticed other
than the Jungle, itself radiating.
Tracks show it as a local watering hole. Where then did the campfire
come from? The trees seem to contain
some sort of fruit. It is decided to get
over to the island in various ways. The
fruit are mangoes. The campfire has no
tracks around it. We rebuild the fire.
A pair of tigers visit the lake during my watch. We seem to share a common goal. They stay in my mind. Rod tries the water, feeling refreshed but
notices no reflection for a moment before it seems to reappear. A scream by Echo causes King to wake her. She
had fallen asleep and dreamed of falling towards the sky. King wakes us in the morning. Echo, tasting the water, tells us it tastes
like water from the pure elemental plane.
We all take our fill and decide to rest for the day.
The next night, I sit in reverie, imagining a time before
time, when Elves were one w/ nature. Thinking of Melina, I snap out of it,
somewhat disappointingly. King wakes
us up in a panic. There are large
bubbles in the middle of the lake and Echo is missing. Rod and I dive in after her. I am disoriented but Rod reaches Echo who is
about 30’ below the water’s surface and pulls her to the shore. After she (Echo) recovers she tells us she
doesn’t know how she ended up in the water.
We just notice that Rod is in her natural form. I seem to have developed a tan. Sensing magic, the fire registers. I pour out the water onto it, extinguishing
the smolder. We decide to move on.
Things appear darker, more ominous. We feel more a part of
the jungle than before. A huge spider nest is avoided as we move deeper into
the woods and make camp. We are woken up
by thunder and lightning. Our
Environmental Tents provide protection although the morning is like walking in
a swamp. Later we discover some more
fruit. Nothing untoward happens through
the day. We camp and enjoy some roast
pineapple. The night is quiet.
In the morning, we are low on water. We strengthen our resolve and let Echo purify
morning water. A search turns up some
coconuts around a small pond, about a ¼ mile across. W/ fresh water and many coconuts, we move on.
A distant river is heard… Right at the
edge of a cliff. A tree has fallen
across it. We easily make it across and
camp for the night and feast. The
morning is darker, much darker than it was before. Almost as if it is a different place.
We come across another clearing.
Cobblestones, long set, have grass growing between them. Large obelisks,
obsidian and smooth, jut out from the ground.
In the center is an oval pool about 15’ wide and 7’ across. It seems a holy place. Calling to us. It wants us to drink. The
water is deep and blue. We drink. It
flows through me, pulling something along inside. Our reflections in the water
are gone.
Drums. Drums in the
jungle.
The hunt has begun.
