Taiga makes a confused expression before something dawns on her, “I think… You might… I wasn’t clear. I think we have a misunderstanding. Perhaps, I better leave.” She takes a few steps back, evaluating carefully how the rest of the group reacts but is ready to dash away.

Finding himself not much use in constructing the modest shelter, Shin has kept himself busy transporting necessary branches and other materials on his Tenser's Floating Disk, trying to save both Silvana and Atax time and effort.

It is Pinky-toe, his owl familiar, who alerts him to the presence of Euphemia and Korrinth returning with Nanra and a sled impressively full of their "harvest."

"There is cleaner fresh water in this stream than in the muddy lake.  Just remain cognizant of the snakes.  One almost inhaled Pinky-toe."

When the Earth Genasi appears, Shin notices at first, once again, only because of Pinky-toe (Passive Perception 18 for sight and sound).

But when he does, Shin is fascinated, from an academic perspective as well as a personal one, to study the new arrival.

Tied inextricably to the earth, yet clearly from a far different clime than these tropics, judging by the remnants of her clothing.  Far less brash than our water-bound companion... and her stature.  She is roughly my height!  Perhaps Euphemia will be quicker to trust this one...

"You are welcome here, newcomer, at least as far as I can opine.  In truth, I do not speak for the others as all of us are relative strangers, including the large raptor there that the halfling has magically befriended.  Your fellow genasi here can be quite helpful when he wishes to, which he might in your case as he suggests, for transparently superficial reasons.  We have all found ourselves in this land recently with very little memory of our past lives, and with a green-hued gem implanted within us that may have specific effects, such as inhibiting healing.  Even the raptor bears the implant."

"Is it the same for you?  In any case, I am Shin, and this is Pinky-toe my owl familiar.  I hope we all benefit from mutual cooperation, as logic dictates."

(Shin is a typically green-skinned goblin, also just over three and a half feet tall, yet nothing else about him is typical of goblins.  His manner of speech, the sardonic looking owl perched on his shoulder, the strange raptor-claw shiv he sports as his weapon, his spell book, the magical disk trailing behind him).

Euphemia passes the harness back to Korinth without a word, and after talking to Nanra about tracking the group, positions herself behind the makeshift sled to push while the Genasi pulls. It's uncomfortable, and slow going, but they're able to make good progress, and the raptor leads them to the lake where Silvana, Atax, and Shin are building shelters under the shadow of a burgeoning storm.

By the Invincible, the halfling thinks, straightening up to ease the tension in her back from pushing the sled, and tilting her head back to catch the patter of the first few rain drops, I just don't feel like getting wet right now. Not much say in that, though, is there? Small and not very strong herself, she gives Nanra a pat and makes sure she's settled, giving her another handful of the spider meat, before going over to help Shin load his magical disk with branches. "I like to think I'd trade a lot for a cozy warm bed by a fire," she muses to the goblin. Memories fleetingly push their way through her mind, exiting near as soon as they come. She'd had a wool cloak with a hood, once, and routinely wrapped up in it in ditches and bushes to sleep quite hidden, and quite warm and sound, through the night. The thin habit she's wearing now gives very little comfort.

Then Korinth screeches, and Euphemia turns to look for the supposed interloper, only to see a dark colored woman barely taller than she herself is hesitantly show herself, and ask for help. Only to be leered at by Korinth.

"For the Archpaladin's sake," the halfling scolds Korinth loudly, "that's no way to speak to a lady, nor anyone lost and helpless and asking for aid. You sit yourself down, you knave!" And she strides over to the little lady. "Don't you mind," she says to her, "he's good with a bow and some tools, but not with his mouth, or his manners. We're all just thrown together, here, as Shin says... you're welcome to join us, of course, and we'll share whatever we have with you. What's your name, lass?" Euphemia extends a hand with a smile. "My name is Euphemia."

Silvana can't help but stare at the approaching raptor that she knows Euphemia said she had befriended.  But she can't help the feeling in her knees as she watches the large animal approach.  She doesn't know how to hold herself around the raptor, how to behave... can she look it in the eye?  Is that rude?  She barely even hears Korlinth's retort about the meager shelter, but stands under it trying to stay dry while she stares.

The arrival of the newcomer breaks her out of her trance and she smiles as she sees the small earth colored one.  As Euphemia approaches her, Silvana joins, but keeps an eye on Nanra.  "Are you alright?  Like my goblin friend here said, we're all a little lost here as well, just trying to figure things out.  My name is Silvana."

Taiga stops as more of the group notice her and come forward way more welcoming than who she thought would make for the best first contact. Not your brightest idea, stupid, she tells herself, I should have observed a little longer, or I should have picked a female... Who would have thought that the goblin is so... learned? But it matters little now and they seem to be a friendly lot, right? 

The earth genasi hugs her satchel while some of the group approach her and a runic symbol glows on her forehead. "I'm Taiga, I think. I don't remember much," she says weakly but tries to regain some composure, "You're kind, thank you." She regards Silvana, "I think I'm ok, if not...", she meant to say starving but reconsidered that it might be conceived rude to ask for food so short into their encounter, "... exhausted. It's so warm and wet here." Suddenly something clicks in her head, What did the goblin, Shin, say? A green gem implanted within her? "I don't know, I haven't had time to search myself and I didn't think it was necessary." She pulls up her sleeves slightly and investigates her forearms, "Where should I find it? This gem?" 

Korinth whistles at Taiga behind the rest, tapping a strange green mark on his wrist. No, not a mark. An actual stone.

On Korinth's cue, Taiga turns her wrist to look astonished at the green diamond shaped implant imbedded in her lower forearm. She taps it lightly with her fingernail and traces its facets, while she remarks, "It's a crystal. And it glows like my rune. Maybe it is charged with some energy, too? You say it can heal?" 

Shin smiles ruefully.  "It seems you do indeed share our specific condition, Taiga.  Sadly, while we lack the empirical data to theorize on the implant's full range of function, it seems to do the opposite - inhibit, reduce, somehow dampen magical healing based on our brief experience with it."

He points at his Tenser's Floating Disk.  "Fortunately, we do currently possess a Healer's Kit which we have utilized but once, when Nanra the raptor's children inflicted several substantial lacerations into the flesh of Atax, our imposing lizardfolk warrior companion there."

Perched on Shin's shoulder, Pinky-toe rolls her eyes extravagantly.  Woman was looking for help, not a lecture on lizard laceration.

Euphemia nods at Shin and pushes the sleeve of her black threadbare habit up to reveal her own gem-like implant. "That's as much as I could tell. There's something sure strange about all of this, but I haven't had breakfast either once or twice, and we've just got back from hauling some questionable vittles, so I'm thinking to cook some up." She drops her sleeve back down and smiles at Taiga. "The raptor's already eaten, by the way. She's still a little leery of us all, so be careful of her, but she's been real stout so far."

The halfling looks back up at the dripping sky. "If I can get a fire going before this starts, we'll be thankful for it drying out afterwards. No time to lose, eh? But I'm short a flint or a knife or anything else. Some of ye know some magic spells... Shin, have you got any way to make fire?"

"Ugh.. It slows our healing? It's leeching us. My rune charges when I use magic in a certain way and I can use it to avoid or deflect damage to me. Perhaps, the implant stores energy for some purpose or other...?" Taiga shrugs and is clearly out of her depths to speculate any further on its functionality. She remains where she met up with Euphemia but her posture has changed into that of a calm observer of the scene.

Taiga notes attentively, "I can control fire once there is any, so if you give me a spark I should be able to grow it into a real fire fairly quick. Though, there needs to be a spark first, I'm not sure I can help with that."

"Magic aside, lasses, find me some dry wood afore this rain comes, and I can get ye the spark ye need." He did, after all, make the last bonfire. He'd like to ask why they didn't bring charcoal from that blaze, but chooses not to in the spirit of cooperation. 

...he'll bring it up later.

Shin shakes his head at Euphemia's question, crestfallen that he cannot help.

"In retrospect, I would have been well advised to learn spells related to fire, yet as the situation currently stands, I find myself unable to render aid in this regard.  I can expend a portion of my arcane ability to create an area of grease, perhaps upon the dry wood that Korinth is demanding be fetched for him, that may catch fire easily, though if Taiga can control flames from a spark, that may be superfluous."

[Assume they found one good log]

The fire's easy enough for Korinth. One log, a fibrous reed, and some dry grass. He finds a nub in the log, lines a nearby stick up in place, situates himself between the kindling and the stronger gusts, then wraps the reed around the aforementioned stick. At his request, albeit one laced with at least two tasteless innuendos, an oblivious Atax holds the stick in place with a flat stone, affording Korinth both his hand to vigorously spin the stick in place. The friction is quick to bring the wood to smolder, yet it takes several more minutes for a thin line of smoke to appear within the dry grass. He stops, covering the soft glow with his hands, feeding small dry weeds and leaf litter to the tiny ember. After a few soft breaths to bring it strength, the genasi turns to his pretty little "kin" with a sly little smirk. 

"All you, lass. Give it growth."

Turning away and wiping off his rear, he then sets about untying the harness and the vines from the spider's carapace. Securing Silvana's shelter seems the next best move, though the wind doesn't seem to agree. The storm's further edging closer, and Korinth unfortunately finds little capability in securing anything before the wind undoes his handiwork in an instant.

Damn. He was hoping to impress the cat some. Get a little appreciative hug for giving her own project a little extra love 'n care. Ah, well... There's always another time. 

He claps the lizard on his broad shoulder, sending him aside to the treeline. When the wall of scales returns, it's with several broken branches and a spool of crude thin vines. Arranging the branches into a crude arch of sorts, he begins lashing them together at a slight acute angle. He does this twice, sinking and securing both on either end of where the bonfire is being fortified. Soon, a spit is formed from the mass of twigs. 

Turning to Shin, Korinth says simply: "I'm ken to take a breather. I assume you can cook?" He nods to the piles of meat within the carcass. 

Still intimidated by Korinth, she followed him slowly and with a watchful eye but her drive to bring some assistance to her new acquaintances pushed her onwards. She stood at the ready near Korinth to infuse his flame with magic as soon as she would see appear the first flicker. Carefully, she wills the flame to grow until the entire log is on fire and directs it to move onto the designated fireplace by means of Control Flames. “Here you go.”

She takes initiative to dig a small trench around the fireplace so that run-off from the rain wouldn't affect the fireplace. Korinth, quick to assign tasks, lets her know that it would be helpful to use that particular talent of hers for digging a bigger hole some paces away from the camp for sanitary reasons. 

Shin continues to unload more branches and twigs from his Tenser's Floating Disk for the shelter (or potentially firewood now), and hearing Korinth's assumption about his cooking, turns to look at Pinky-toe apprehensively for some reason, who glares back in turn at the goblin meaningfully.

No.  NO.  Never again.  The only thing deadlier around here than that giant dinosaur that came out of the river might be you whipping up some goblin surprise.

Shin grins crookedly and mumbles, "Ah... anything requiring culinary aptitude is likely best left in more capable hands.  Or so Pinky-toe advises me."

He does take a moment to summon his Mage Hand and uses it to select a long, thin branch from the Tenser's Floating Disk, which the arcane appendage then holds with one end sticking well over the fire, rotating it occasionally.  Shin glances at it a moment, then shrugs sheepishly.

"A spit, perhaps," he offers, as he turns away to continue his branch gathering.  The Tenser's Floating Disk follows behind him.

"Would you mind if I look through the wood you collected?" Taiga asks reserved. "I can check the state of the branches and sort them for different purposes. Some might be stronger than others and I can make something useful out of them. I know my way around wood, if nothing else." She shoulders her satchel and approaches Shin's pile.

(Assuming that she is permitted) There she carefully places the satchel on a dry spot and unpacks a saw and a hatchet. She begins to cut small twigs and offshoots from the larger, dry and healthy branches. This way they will be easier to store and work with later. On a separate pile she sorts the twigs, smaller branches, or those that are damaged. On yet another pile she puts wet wood and what is with molds. These last pieces are best left to dry but then can serve as firewood, too.

Seeing Shin leaving again for more wood, Taiga requests, "Could you look for a couple of thin but long and sturdy branches? I can make a staff, a bow or a spear out of any of those if the material is good. Also if you see any small and straight trees, we could perhaps cut a few down for building material. Or larger ones that have fallen. I think we don't have anything to cut down a large tree, right?"

Keras stares out of the small entrance of his shelter, into the dark rainclouds and branches whipped up by the wind. The creaking bothered him when he first arrived, made him worried that the trees would fall and crush him in the night, but he'd quickly gotten used to the sounds of the jungle. He wasn't given much choice. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches a small light. At first, he dismisses it for a firefly, but then he remembers the rain and sees that it isn't moving at all. He leans forward, squinting. 

"A fire?" Realization dawns upon him and he sighs "They're camped at the bank. With an open fireplace. They're going to draw every predator with functioning eyes if they're not careful. Should I go and warn them? No, if the rain picks during my crossing, I'll drown. I'm sure it'll be fine, nothing will be hunting in the storm." In an effort to keep himself sane, Keras had been avoiding talking to himself, but that rule is forgotten in the mixed excitement and apprehension that the confirmation of new arrivals. Arrivals feels wrong. What exactly are we? Inmates? Contestants? He shivers. Cold, that's what I am. A fire does sound nice...

He growls to himself "This is a stupid idea, they might be cannibals." He rubs his eyes, shaking his head, but he's already come to a decision. Stiffly, he gets up, grabbing the oilcloth bag. He steps out of the shelter, then rolls the stones off of his raft. He carefully picks it up, moves to the bank of the shore, and sets it in. He kneels atop it, then pushes off with the paddle. It doesn't take him long to get out of the shallows and into the open water. As he paddles, he does his best to keep the ripples to a minimum, hoping that any he does create will be masked by the rain. As he reaches the half way point, his nerves finally start to settle. So far so good. Maybe the rain is to my advantage. He starts to close on the shore, and suddenly his anxiety spikes again. Unsure why, he glances around. Just as he is about to return to paddling, he notices a small movement from the surface of the lake a few yards to his right. His whole body tenses, watching the strange, curving ripples as they slowly approach. Making no sudden moves, he pulls at the opening of his bag, reaching inside. There's a sudden spray of water, and the snake that was stalking him from just beneath the surface launches itself towards him. Moving on instinct, he yanks his hand from the bag, revealing a gleaming length of steel that catches the snake inbetween its jaws and bisects it right down its length. Both halves fly a foot past the raft and drop unceremoniously into the water. Keras sighs as the danger is averted, wiping his blade on his cloak, then replaces the blade into the bag. 

He doesn't relax again until he reaches the opposite shore. Upon doing so, he immediately pulls the raft from the water and sets it down in the hollow roots of a nearby tree, lodging it as firmly as he can. Satisfied, he starts to move towards the newcomers' camp. As he nears, he crouches down and stops, observing silently for a time. 

Korinth's sure the owl's seen him, too. Some sad-looking shape crossing the water, then trying to duck and hide -- in the daytime no less. Under the cover of a jungle canopy, he could understand. But out in the open? He must be desperate. Desperate can mean dangerous. He can't get a bead on what he's looking at quite yet, but it's surely humanoid. Nevertheless, out comes the bow, and an arrow to boot.

"Oi! Oi, you! Yer not foolin' anyone with that, y'know!"

Keras stands up slowly, arms crossed. "Put down the bow" He says, wearily "I've not come to eat you. It seems we've become neighbours, I was simply coming to greet you." He gestures with his hand to the area around them with a wry grin "Prime location, eh? It's got a couple of issues, sure, like the giant, man eating dinosaurs and the memory theft, but I'm told a healthy dose of existential dread does wonders for stress. I'm assuming you're like me? No memories and a weird stone implant?"