"We were also caught in the storm. Our ship however is still seaworthy, we just need to repair the mast and a few holes. Come with us if you wish."

Aluve stands and puts out his hand to help the young man to his feet. "You know we could us some of this equipment in here to help with the repairs and they will be no use to anyone here now. Do you mind if we take them with us to help get our ship back up and sailing."

Aluve nods to the others, indicating that everything was alright.

"So long as we draw breath, we are not doomed. Take heart, stranger, we'll get out of this yet," Bramble says, unusually sure of himself.

The man stands, with the help of Aluve. "O-Of Course, take whatever you need."

He helps them as they work, pointing out what can probably be put to most use. Though he doesn't speak of it, he seems to have some knowledge in woodwork, and does his best to ply it to good effect in front of the newcomers, hoping to assuage however tarnished his reputation may yet be after his attack.

Wounded as he is, the Half-orc can't bare to carry much more than a bundle of rope, hobbling as he will, but both agree to assist in bringing the new supplies back to the smuggler's vessel beached at the river. As they work, the half-orc asks openly to the group. "You say you have your own vessel that is in need of some repair. Have you been stranded long? The night must be in it's waning hours by now, and I imagine you got stuck before the day's curfew?" 

"I couldn't be sure of the exact timing or location my noble friend. There was an incident onboard before the storm. Our captain was attacked and fell overboard with the assailant right before we were hit. Our ship now lies beyond those trees, wrecked on the bank of a river we didn't even know was there. Listen.....for the moment just trust me, we can get you back on the water and return you to wherever you need to go. Our goals and quests may not align but you are severely wounded and we have the means to help you. Once we are off this island....or whatever it is I will answer any questions you have, honestly, to the best of my ability. Staying here is not a safe option for any of us."

Aluve finishes of preparing the bundle of supplies he is going to carry back to the ship.

"Everyone nearly ready to head off?"

Branch greets the one that surprised them then assists how she can with gathering any material needed.  Noting that the young man appears to know what he is doing, she tries to follow his lead on what all to gather.

"Yep, let's get back... hopefully there are no more surprises on our ship!"  Letting Aluve have the interesting conversation with the half-orc.  Sure seemed as though they were fishing for something, didn't we just save them?

Archibald nods. "The sooner we get going, the sooner we can get out of here."

"I am ready when all of you are."

“Yes! the faster we fix the ship the quicker we can get out of here and find our way back.” 

The journey back to the smuggler's ship--The Berronar--takes them back along the game-trail, through the woods. Despite both of the newcomer's initial trepeditations, it is the only way forward. The path, hemmed in as it is by the tall forest undergrowth seems suddenly claustrophobic, room enough only for the group to file singly through it. But as the seconds go by, naught but their own footsteps reach their ears. Whatever had been stalking them from the other side of the clearing, had either not come to this side, or decided for whatever reason not to attack them on their way back.

Moonlight illuminates the outline of The Berronar as the party finally break out of the forest's oppressive grip. In the shadow of the ship, naught waits for them. Even the crew, who abandoned them at the first sight of true combat, had already boarded the ship once more. Their activity now sounds into the night air, conversations muffled by the distance, the sounds of work as they manage what little repairs they can. Making their presence known, the party is welcomed back with joy once the crew recognizes the supplies they carry. Once everything and everyone has made it on board again, the one who'd introduced himself as Jack addresses everyone, seeming to've taken over in the captain's absence. "Alright now look, ye lack-abouts and not-so's all. Thanks to our new friends here, we've more supplies than we could hope for, but it'll take some time for us to effect these repairs. Those of you who know what to do, you best get to it. The rest of ye? I suggest you find somewhere to take your rest. It'll likely be a few hours, perhaps even morn' by the time we can set off again. Get some shut-eye, or at least keep out our way, while you can." He pauses for a moment after that, not sure how to finish his speech, then does so by nodding, and turning to his crew. "Off your asses I said! Cooke, grab that rope, one'a yas get aloft!"

The crew explode into motion again, taking the supplies as they need them from where they'd been piled against the railing on one side of the ship. The Half-orc, wounded as he is, retires to the aft cabin to find his rest. The other survivor who'd taken a pot-shot at Aluve approaches Jack, and skilled as he is in woodwork is set about shaping one of the staves to replace the lost spar. The Nevael brothers stay out of the way of the crew at the prow of the ship, the one still tending the other's injuries. Alfreid had gone back to sleep even before the party returned. The night, filled with the sailor's work, is otherwise calm.

Aluve, ready for a rest,  makes a fire on the shore. The repair work was better handled by the sailors. He thought it best to stay clear for a while whilst they worked. He found some logs and placed them around the fire, in case others wanted to join him. The warmth provided a familiar comfort, reminding him of his days in the wilderness with his father. He wasn't sure how this next part of the journey would play out. He had developed a level of trust in the past few hours for the group who had ventured into the forest with him.....he couldn't say the same for majority of the others on board the ship. It was only a matter of time before the Half-Orc was going to cause issues and they still had no idea where they were exactly. It had been a long time since he had gone into battle with others or had to work as part of a team....something stirred inside him....he actually enjoyed it.

Aluve sat by his fire sharpening and cleaning his blades. He settled in for a well deserved break.

Archibald has a hard time finding a place where he feels both safe from monsters, and murderers as well as feels ready to act in case someone else were attacked. He settles in on the ground eventually, and puts his back to a tree, where exhaustion catches up with him and he drifts off to sleep 

Han approaches Jack with determination in his eyes “Obviously we have no idea where we are but I’m not comfortable just sitting around doing nothing and I’ve have some where to be so what can I do to help I’m quite good at cleaning but I’ll do what ever it take to get us up and running and back on course” as he say this Han Prestidigitations a dirty sandy coiling of rope clearing off the sand and scum that had built up on it over heave use. 

With a heavy, wet, thud Jack drops onto the muddy shore, a number of his crew not long after. He rouses those that slept the night away there, knocking each one gently, but firmly, with his boot. "You may continue sleepin' if'n ya like. But me'n the lads will be casting the ship off this shore before long, so you'll be wanting to climb back aboard." True to his word, once everyone had climbed back on he and his crew set about dragging the ship free, which was not as daunting a task as it might seem, as much of the ship floated weightless in the current. And so it was that The Berronar made sail again, drifting down the wide and lazy river in which it had somehow found itself. The forest flanked the watery snake on both sides, seeming no less foreboding in stark daylight than it had during the middle of the night.

The sun was high in the morning sky when people began to wake. The crew themselves mostly still slept, having worked clean through the night and most of that morning. Now only one of their number remained awake, maintaining their course with a gentle hand on the helm. It was the larger-man, who the others called 'Cooke'. Seeing their passengers-turned-heroes wakening, and milling the deck, he waves the lot over. "Y'all wouldn't a'happen ta brought any food with yas?" He questions, his voice low so that few others might hear. "I don't mean to worry none, but Jack's our navigator, or was, and he was tellin' us he 'asn't a clue where we are. This was supposed to be an overnight journey, no excess provisions have been packed on board, save what the boys brought for themselves..."

Bramble looks to the woods with some trepidation. "I could, ah, attempt to forage in the forest. Maybe hunt some game. Though if more of those cursed things wander the woods... I... may not return. There may not even, ah, be any game or edible plants in there... But it's worth a shot."

After boarding the ship once more, Aluve spent most the morning scanning the surroundings, looking for something that might help identify their location. He overheard Bramble chatting with Cooke about food. Bramble was right....there was no way of knowing what lurked with the woods in this part of the world....but they couldn't survive without food so there may not be an option.

"I will come with you Bramble......we will probably need to find fresh water as well......we have come some distance from where the battle took place. Perhaps this forest isn't afflicted by the same magic? Let's keep an eye out for a good spot to anchor." 

Archibald holds up his pack. "I wasn't actually sure if I might need some food for the road or a bit of... Travel. I brought a few days worth. Hopefully enough to tide us over til we can figure out a fishing or hunting situation."

"But how are we here? There's no way we... What happened?"

Cooke nodded, accepting their answers simply. "Jack wants us to continue movin', least 'til we find something as worth notin'. He'll be taking over from me soon, and then we might stop for awhile. If you lot are able to hunt some game, it would do us well, but we may yet find port before then." And so it was, that the ship continued to meander down the river under Cooke's, and then Jack's, careful guidance.

Though there were many watchful eyes studying the river's edge, no safe harbor made itself evident for an hour or more after Jack took over, where the river widened into a long, thin lake nestled between two high hills. Funneled by the massive formations, the wind suddenly turned against the Berronar as she rounded herself into this lake, and Jack roused the crew, taking the ship in a zig-zag, back-and-forth manner, slowly making headway upwind despite their poor luck with the conditions. The next half-hour or so was a rhythm, of slow, methodical sailing up towards one shore, and then a brief flurry of motion and sound, as the crew heaved the ship in the other direction. They danced and practiced and perfected dance to avoid the suddenly taut lines, and the massive swinging boom as it moved from one side to the other, only to being the waiting game again until they reached the other shore of the lake. It was during this sound and action that the able-bodied Nevael brother pointed out over the starboard railing from his position on the aft quarter. "There, some sand!" 

"Aye!" Answered Jack, peering over the railing from his position at the helm. Barking orders to his crew, the ship remained on its course for a few minutes longer, before turning back again for the last time, and making way to the tan-coloured spit. The crew put on quite the production as they worked, lowering the sails, and disconnecting one of the heavy lines that held their weight aloft, so that it may instead be used to lift a pitifully small boat out of the storage hold, and then out over the water and into the lake once the ship had been anchored. Back-and-forth the tiny boat went, ferrying two or three at a time but no more. Eventually, the whole seven of them had made it to shore.

Seven indeed, for as well as the tried and true of last night's ordeal, the Nevael brother went to shore as well. "There's a great number of us." He observed in low tones, "Perhaps we ought to split up, even if only into two groups, we'll cover more ground and have a better chance at one of us finding success." Though in areas the undergrowth here was as thick as it had been at the wreck of the navy's ship, it was not as pervasive as before, and so it was not hard for the brother to pick a path through the brush. Which he did silently, and without waiting for an answer to his recommendation.

"In this strange land, I'd prefer if we would stick together. We don't know what is out there, and if we split up, we are easier to pick off. We should all stick together."

"Now that we've docked, I'd like to look for fish if possible?  Just swim in a bit and see if I can see anything good to eat?  Considering last night, I, uh, would like at least someone to watch my back from shore?  We can then head into the forest after." You can tell she isn't used to asking for help and feels a bit sheepish on this last part.  She looks longingly out into the water as she waits to hear what the others say.  With this completely new area, she doesn't want to diverge from the group, but she really would like to see if there are fish easy to grab to help with their hungry stomachs.

Archibald raises his hand. 

"I'll go with you for fishing. I think I might even try some. Maybe I could be good at it, you know, spearfishing or something."