Thea watches as Seri converses with Smiler, noting that even though they are sore and tired, the elf priestess still remains eloquent and wise. She turns to Billy, "A bit of guile and nerve, yes..." She pauses for a second "And maybe a touch of quick fingers too..." she trails off with a mischievous, thievish grin on her face.

She looks around, noting the beauty of the night. She never really appreciated stuff like that before, having spent most nights stealing to survive or drinking in a tavern. But now, even though she's stuck here in the dirty, hot wilderness, she can't help but sigh contentedly at the peace of the nighttime, 

At Seri's suggestion that the young men could join a crew with her and the other survivors of the Horn of Plenty, Smiler becomes contemplative for a moment and looks at his paddlers. After a few moments he turns back.

"I think the village needs good men. These might have been taken in by Maheri but they have good hearts. I hope they can stay in the village but perhaps they may choose another path."

He glances back at the other canoe. "Are your companions able to paddle until dawn? We can rest awhile, though I will need to remain alert to ward off Trondro's... hungrier denizens."

You've got roughly 5 hours of paddling to get to land (you've figured this out because that's about how long it is until dawn). So to keep paddling it will be a forced march. Each character needs to do five CON saves as follows, with each failed save adding a level of exhaustion. You can obviously choose to rest at any point within this if you want.

DC 11 for the first hour

DC12 for the second hour

DC13 for the third hour

DC14 for the fourth hour

DC15 for the fifth hour

Seri agrees solemnly with Smiler that the young men must make their own difficult choices and tread their own path.

Hitching a ride on the stern of the tribesmen's canoe to catch her breath and streamlining her body to reduce the drag, Seri considers Kairouani, Thea, William and Billy back in the other canoe, and the prospect of their rowing (and herself swimming) until dawn.

"My companions and I lack the long experience and endurance of propelling canoes across Trondro's waters that your people have become skilled at.  I do not think we can reach your home shore without putting ourselves in poor shape once we arrive.  Let me speak with them."

Swimming back over to the other canoe, this time she does not hitch a ride, but swims alongside, speaking to her companions as she surfaces for breath.

"It will be several more hours rowing before we reach the shore we seek...  I think if we press on, we may arrive worn out and ill-prepared for whatever awaits us there...  How do all of you feel?  If we rest here and drift upon the current for some time, we may fare better...  What say you?"

As she waits for her friends to answer, Seri murmurs a prayer for Trondro's guidance and tries to gauge from the waters and skies both the strength and direction of the current here (which way it may carry us if we drift while resting) and the likelihood of the weather turning foul in the next several hours.

Seri's Survival plus Guidance:  25 + 1 = 26

Kairouni will doggedly row throughout unless the others advise her otherwise.

Con Save- 15

Con Save- 13

Con Save- 5

1 level of Exhaustion ( Disadvantage on Ability Checks) she'll power through...hopefully.

Con Save- 19

Con Save- 15

With the knowledge that they could make landfall with a few hours of paddling, William answered Seri's question by grabbing his paddle and resume the task with renewed vigor.

Con Save: 14

Con Save: 8

He must have underestimated just how fatigued he must be for after two hours of paddling William felt tiredness seeping into his muscles. He gritted his teeth and willed himself to continue.

Con Save: 17

Con Save: 8

Two hours later, four since he started the labour, William's arms were aching. He did not care if his arms went limp or stiffened as he soldiered on. Just one more hour. One more. Then I can rest these bones of mine. He silently spurred himself on.

Con Save: 7

Everything hurt. William still paddled though now it was more going through the motion rather than putting much force behind the strokes. His eyes simultaneously dropped and stung as he peered over the horizon to spot land.

Three failed Con saves and that for a Fighter, my god...

Taken aback that her shipmates, well at least Kai and Will anyway, are intent on keeping pace with the islanders for the next five hours without respite, Seri nonetheless nods philosophically, settling herself in for a long, sustained swim.  "Trondro's waters flow as He wills them."

She is no robust warrior or peerless athlete, and she is becoming tired.  Yet the long hours of gliding through salt water awaken something within her.  A deep exultation at being immersed in the Wave Father's serene, yet wild power.  She begins to fall into something nearing her nightly trance.  Glimmers of childhood memory wash against the edges of her mind.  Of gliding languidly below the waves for leagues on end, her sea elven parents flanking her.

At times, after asking Smiler's permission, she rests briefly, holding onto the stern of the islanders' canoe and streamlining her body like a fin.  At others, she swims in the bow wave of their canoe as dolphins do.  In so doing, though fatigued, she avoids the worst of the bone deep exhaustion.

Seri's CON Save 1 (with advantage):  18 (success)
Seri's CON Save 2 (with advantage):  7 (failure)
Seri's CON Save 3 (with advantage):  18 (success)
Seri's CON Save 4 (with advantage):  21 (Nat. 20, success)
Seri's CON Save 5 (with advantage):  14 + 6 from Divine Soul Sorcerer's Favored by the Gods trait:  20 (success)

(Seri suffers 1 level of exhaustion:  disadvantage on ability checks).

OOC: Here goes nothing.

They kept paddling. And paddling. And paddling. And paddling. For what felt like forever. It was hard and grueling, and Thea's arms ached with strain and exhaustion. She cursed her upbringing under her breath, as well as her lack of physical power. Sometimes being short had its disadvantages. 

Hour #1: 13 (success!)

Hour #2: 9 (failure)

Hour #3: 9 (failure)

Hour #4: NAT 20!

Hour #5: 19 (success)

Overall, 2 levels of Exhaustion. Boo. I'm still almost as fast a dwarf though.

The moon sits fat and bright in the sky, casting its silvery rays to shatter on the surface of the sea as it is broken by eight sets of paddles. Conversation dies away as the night draws on and each individual loses themselves in the rhythm. Reach, pull, reach, pull. It goes on. The only sound is the trickle of water past the hull and the muted, synchronised splashes of the paddles.

Hands aching, muscles burning in backs and arms, you paddle on. Up ahead Smiler glances back from time to time to check you are keeping pace, and leans forward to give instructions to his crew. The gap between the canoes widens and narrows but if you are able to look up from your labours you would always have them in sight. Billy kneels in front of Thea, his broad back dipping and twisting as he pulls powerfully through the water. He seems to be handling the physical exertion well, though his face is set in a mask of determination and he is as quiet as everyone else. Hours pass.

Finally, a shout from ahead catches your attention. Looking up, you notice that the sky has lightened and dead ahead there is a low smudge on the horizon. Land. 

Now that your destination is in sight it seems to make the exhaustion worse. Every stroke is an effort and your arms feel heavy. The island seems reluctant to approach, like a nervous animal that must be cajoled and comforted. 

At length, what feels like the longest night of your life is at an end. You paddle doggedly through the breakers, where the front canoe has already beached, and feel a jolt as you hit the sand. You almost can't believe that you can finally stop paddling. Billy rests his paddle across his knees and regards the beach.

Smiler and his crew have jumped into the surf and hauled their vessel up the beach where the waves will not dislodge it, and Smiler is now approaching you, beckoning you forward with expansive arm movements. 

The grey light of pre-dawn bathes another crescent-shaped beach fringed with palms. What is beyond the palms is lost in shadow.

"Come, friends," shouts Smiler. "Our home is not far!"

"Anyone else wary of the sort of welcome we might get here?" mutters Billy, loud enough for those in the canoe to hear.

"Only a little" Thea chuckles grimly, crossing her arms, her hands subtly fingering the daggers hidden in the hidden pockets on the side of her "shirt". She really does have those things hidden everywhere.

She follows behind Billy and William, using the men as a shield from the sight from whatever islanders they encounter, so that way she could slip away if needed, and she's too tired to deal with islanders such as the crude young boys who would "enjoy the view" so to speak. 

She leans over to Seri, quietly asking her what Smiler said. Knowledge is power, and she wants power.

Seri's eyes shine with exultation despite the fatigue and bone-deep ache in her muscles.  Her reverie is in Elven, half-remembered memories of listening to her mother as a child of the deeps.  To glide once more in Trondro's waves, beneath the glimmering light of a silvery moon dancing upon the surface...

She becomes more somber as she sees her companions in various states of Exhaustion, some worse than her own.  As she helps beach their canoe alongside where Smiler and the islanders have pulled theirs, she listens to the shaman's exhortation.  They are eager.  They are home...

A moment of doubt creases Seri's brow as she turns to Smiler.  Speaking in Olona:
"You have returned home and wish to be there without delay.  I see your heart, Elder Brother.  Yet should we speak first of how to navigate your unexpected return and our unexpected arrival, all without Maheri?  Did you not have doubts about both as we were traversing Trondro's currents?  We must speak to them of Trondro's will, you and I.  I wish there to be no misunderstandings and certainly no bloodshed."

She answers Thea in Veridian, addressing all her companions.  "Their home is not far.  The shaman bids us come quick.  I ask him if we should take time to choose our tack carefully as we would when trimming our sail in high wind.  I believe Billy Flint to be right in his uncertainty of our welcome.  And perhaps of their welcome as well, arriving without Maheri.  We may need to welcome new shipmates to our crew if the village rejects them and us."

Kairouni heaved the boat up the beach with assistance, her muscles aching but her expression determined not to show it. She locked eyes with Seri and nodded, " Your words carry the Wisdom of the Sea."

" My arms are sore but ready to serve if words do not."

William stood uneasy on the beach. He knew that some men spent so much time at sea that they have trouble adjusting their "sea legs" to solid, unmoving earth once more. Yet that was not the case here. Quite simply to say, he was exhausted. When he was in the rhythm of paddling he did not feel it but now in this moment of rest, he could feel it clearly: his arms and legs were shaking. Every step William felt he had to actively force himself to take and there was a noticable delay between what his brain wanted to do and his body actually doing it.

'I'm down with anything at the moment.' William said feeling that he was going to fall down onto the sand should he stop to rest. 'I'm not in the best of shape right now so perhaps we should try to talk our way out first and throw hands only as a last resort?'

As much as she doesn't want to admit it, to herself or anyone else, Thea feels in a similar state to William in terms of fatigue. Now, she's always up for a fight, but her arms are very tired, and she would really like a nap. She suddenly yawns loudly, mouth wide open.

After doing so, she looks around sheepishly, her courtly instincts telling her such thins are uncouth. Then she remembers where she is, shrugs, and continues with the conversation. "We could do to maybe try to avoid 'throwing hands'. Only maybe though..." she trails off, images of tricking and winning against an army of savage islanders flashing through her head. It's not that she likes bloodshed, she just likes taking revenge, winning, and adrenaline.

Smiler's look of elation at his nearness to home fades, though his head continues the odd bobbing motion that you have come to expect from him. He glances around at your party and at his own tribesmen, taking in Seri's words.

"Perhaps..." he seems unsure of himself. "Perhaps I should go ahead, and tell the chief what has happened?" He phrases this suggestion as a question, looking at Seri as if for approval. His erstwhile crew looks on, glancing between themselves in an unspoken conversation.

Billy looks around at William, Thea, and Kairouani. He speaks low, so the islanders can't hear him, even if they could understand Verdian. "If your arms are as tired as mine, shipmates, I'm not sure throwin' hands is a good idea. I've got to admire your spunk though. I've not seen many tougher."

"Fire Island!!" squawks Roger, who has perched on Billy's left shoulder.

OOC: Love how it's all these serious conversations and then Roger is just squawking his head off. "Blah! Fire! Blah! Island! Blah! Gibberish!"

As Smiler speaks, Thea looks on, standing near Seri's shoulder. While the shaman speaks, she appraises his body language, looking for any sign of...well, anything. Nervousness, sweating profusely, stuff like that that would indicate he's up to something

Insight check (with Disadvantage due to her Exhaustion): 16

She nods at Billy's words, a proud smile flashing on her face when he calls her tough. Then she remembers this guy hasn't been exactly truthful and is kinda suspicious, and she tries to make her face look dour.

Seri gazes at Smiler for a long moment.  She murmurs a prayer for Trondro's guidance.  Is this man true to his word as he is to the waves?

Seri's Insight at disadvantage due to Exhaustion, plus Guidance:  8 + 3 = 11

Finding her fatigue interfering with her ability to understand what is in Smiler's heart, she sighs and turns to her shipmates and Billy, speaking in Veridian.

"The shaman offers to go first, alone, to speak with their chief.  The horizons are cloudy to me and I cannot see clear whether this is best for our safety," she pauses.  "Or for his, or theirs."  She gestures at the other tribesmen (who she assumes would remain behind since Smiler said "I", not "we"?).

Seri considers, running fingers absently through her long gossamer hair, which seems strangely no more wet after miles of ocean swimming than it looks normally.  Her eyes appear troubled, and in this instant, she looks every bit the teenager that she is (maturity, if not age-wise), trying to do her best.

"Though my heart remains fogged and unclear, my head wonders if perhaps we should accompany him after all."

"Sounds like we should go with him. With all of us exhausted, leaving anything to chance would not be a smart idea." Thea says, giving a suspicious glance to Smiler. She's convinced he's hiding something, but then again, she's convinced any man who hasn't saved her life or something similar is up to something. She really has some trust issues.

'Strength in numbers.' William concurred. For his part he did not trust anyone outside of their little group as far as he could throw them, which at this point was not a lot.

Kairouni slapped her friends about the shoulders, " We go with. Now is not a time for meekness."