After a moment of looking slightly shocked, the genasi gets an odd smile on his face, putting his arrow away.

"Like me? Not quite. You're trapped in a monster-infested primal jungle, surrounded by harsh wildlife, giant insects, deadly weather, and hellious diseases.

His grin gets a little mischievous.

"Meanwhile, I get to be trapped in a monster-infested primal jungle, surrounded by harsh wildlife, giant insects, deadly weather, and hellious diseases, with four very attractive strangers..." He eyes the likely very confused young monk up one way and down the other. "...though I guess now, it's five."

Shin complies happily with Taiga's requests regarding the gathered wood.  "Certainly Taiga.  I would say the ratio of your expertise in woodworking to mine is likely quite high, except that would be inaccurate, since mine is zero and dividing by zero is..."

Is like trying to calculate your chances of surviving the night.  Pinky-toe's thought is derisive.  Do you not see the lone boatman creeping up?

The goblin (Passive Perception:  15) had indeed seen the unfamiliar human crouching at the outskirts of the makeshift camp, just as the owl (visual/auditory Passive Perception:  18 due to advantage from Keen Hearing and Sight) has.

Shin is about to hail the newcomer, when the aquatic humanoid speaks and acts first.

"Welcome stranger.  If you wish us no harm, then I, for one, am happy to have you.  The more the merrier, as I have been attempting to convey to my companions.  I am Shin, and this is Pinky-toe, my owl familliar.  Others here are Euphemia, Atax, Taiga, and Nanra the raptor, charmed into tolerance by Euphemia's pipes.  Do not concern yourself unnecessarily with Korinth there.  Inductive reasoning, despite limited sample size, suggests to me that brandishing his bow is how he first greets any stranger with whom he does not exhibit immediate romantic intent.  He did much the same for me when we first met.  And to be responsive to your query, yes I believe we all share your implant, even the raptor, as well as your loss of memory too."

Keras raises both eyebrows, then looks at Shin. "Either he's insane, or I'm hallucinating and none of you are real. I'm not sure if I want it to be a hallucination, simply because I'd be horrified if my mind managed to think up him." Keras says, jabbing a thumb at the genasi. He moves closer, so that he doesn't have to raise his voice to be heard. He runs a hand over his face, tucking loose strands of black hair behind his ear, and stands a little straighter. "I apologize, my manners must've died with my sanity. I'm Keras, a pleasure to meet you all. If you don't mind, where exactly have you been for the last week? I thought I was alone, but I haven't explored much. The fish in the lake are an easy source of food, and the water deters most of the larger predators." 

Quote from BovineIntervention >>

Keras raises both eyebrows, then looks at Shin. "Either he's insane, or I'm hallucinating and none of you are real. I'm not sure if I want it to be a hallucination, simply because I'd be horrified if my mind managed to think up him." Keras says, jabbing a thumb at the genasi. He moves closer, so that he doesn't have to raise his voice to be heard. He runs a hand over his face, tucking loose strands of black hair behind his ear, and stands a little straighter. "I apologize, my manners must've died with my sanity. I'm Keras, a pleasure to meet you all. If you don't mind, where exactly have you been for the last week? I thought I was alone, but I haven't explored much. The fish in the lake are an easy source of food, and the water deters most of the larger predators." 

 

 "Minus the massive aquatic ones, o'course."

Confused with Shin's response, Taiga simply nods, "I'm a carpenter and, ..." her face crunches up as she works her memory, "... I feel like I've build a lot of things but nothing specific comes to mind. Isn't that weird? I know that if I cut this wood block," she grasps a thick but short section of a branch, "into boards and join the boards into a larger piece, I can fashion a wooden shield. But, for the life of me, I can't say if I have ever done that before." 

Taiga couldn't help but notice the figure attempting to hide in plain sight, a tactic she herself had employed, albeit more successfully, just moments before. Assuming that this must be another survivor of whatever fate had befallen the world as they knew it, she felt a twinge of sympathy for Keras’ approach. "I'm Taiga," she called out in a friendly tone as Shin mentioned her, raising her hand to cast away any doubt.

Euphemia watches with admiration as Taiga and Korinth join forces to make a fire. That's some strong magic she's got there. Between the two of them they'll have a whole fortification up in no time. She feels that sense of relief, much like she felt having the enormous raptor at her side. The feeling of not being alone, of being connected to others. But there's still a lot of work to do, to see if they can all trust each other yet. Korinth has great skills but he seems rather unstable, like someone we've got to keep an eye on. He scared poor Taiga near to death, talking to her like that... but he's doing just fine working with her now. Neither did it escape the halfling's notice that their catfolk friend was watching the raptor nervously. We don't know how well we can trust Nanra yet, either, especially not when there was casualities on both sides, with them and her...that's a bad foot to start on, no question.

Taiga's fire is glorious. "That's a right bonnie fire, Taiga," the halfling enthuses, stretching out her hands to warm them in the dry heat of the flame, despite the muggy heat surrounding them. "Thank you!" Euphemia grins a bit at Shin's deferring to cook. "I'll do it," she says. "Then ye can use that carapace for hauling water." She picks up the thin stick that Shin offered as a spit, and more as Taiga cleans them, choosing ones that look like they'll serve. "If you don't mind, or if you'd lend me that little knife, we can sharpen the ends of these and I'll spit the meat on 'em," she says to Taiga. Whether the little Genasi woman does it or the halfling does, when the task is completed, she'll start pushing the pieces of spider meat onto the sticks. "I'm so glad you've got tools. Me pipes are pretty glorious, to be sure, but I can't do much in the practical way with 'em. You know, and I hardly remember what else I even did, there must've been something, but when the old goat is the only reminder, well, that's what I remember... and not even in my mind, but in my hands and my lungs... you know what I mean. The things I've been able to do with 'em so far weren't things I remembered I could do. I know a whole lot of songs that I can't think of at all until I start playing, but once I do, they're right there." Chatting amiably while she works to secure the spits, digging larger branches into the ground and asking Taiga to cut notches in them to hold the sticks with the meat on them over the fire. Soon the carapace is emptied, and the questionable but smokey smell of roasting spider meat begins to fill the air from a tangled and heavily-laden rack of sticks positioned over the flames.

That task finished, the halfling begins to scour the nearby area for herbs or plants that look familiar to her, either for food, flavoring, or medicine.

Survival: 18 (for the cooking)
Nature: 12 (10 plus her proficiency bonus with Herbalism)

Euphemia is off a ways looking for, and perhaps gathering, herbs when Korinth starts to holler about another newcomer. And she giggles a little at Shin's prompt apology to the newcomer for the aquatic humanoid. He's a mite touched, for sure. Hope he's harmless. Although she straggles behind the others a little in greeting the stranger--he's a human, that's reassuring, at least. For a minute Euphemia wonders why, straining to grasp at any memory of why she would be reassured by that. It tumbles to her in quick little snatches. The High King was human. It was human nobles we worked for, more often than not. Most of the monks at the abbey were humans. Halflings, dwarves, and humans were close kint, I remember, we had an amiable relationship.

"Greetings, lad," the halfling says, a little breathlessly as she scrambles up to the stranger. "My name's Euphemia. It's a pleasure to meet you. Where do ye hail from? If you remember, o' course. I'm right glad to see you. And, aye, Korinth there, he's a bit insane, don't pay him no mind, he's as harmless as the rest of us, mind you, we aren't sure what that's saying, just yet." She says this with a glance at Nanra, unsure of how the raptor will react to more strangers. "You've been here a week, you say? I.. ah... well, to put it rightly, lad, I only remember waking up very early this morning. Can't speak for the others, but I've been here... less than a day. But it warms my heart that you've survived that long. I've sure had my doubts, more than once, in the short time I've been here, that I'll even last until nightfall..."

Keras smiles at the two newcomers, but his expression quickly twists into a frown as Euphemia informs him how long they've been here. "Taiga and Euphemia." Keras notes, committing the names to memory. "In that case, let me welcome you to the island. It's a nasty place, as I'm sure you've figured out. I'd happily tell you where I'm from, if I had the faintest clue of where that could be. All I remember is my name, so that's all I can offer you. That and, I suppose, some more information about the Island. I will admit, I wasn't certain if coming to meet all of you was a good idea, but most of you do seem reasonable. If you would share your fire with me for a while, I would gladly share any knowledge that I have. I know at least some of it could prove invaluable." 

"Yes, please do," Euphemia says, seeming quite relieved, if also a little disappointed. I guess even after a week the memories don't come back very thick. Well, we do what we can. "What hospitality I can offer is yours. We're just cooking up some meat, and you're welcome to it, and our fire, plus whatever shelter Atax and Silvana have been able to rig up to keep the rain off. It must've been hard, staying alive here a whole week by yourself. I heartily thank you for your welcome, lad, and may the blessing of the Invincible all keep us alive long enough to recall what we're here for!"

The halfling waves for Keras to follow her as she leads the way back to the fire and the oddly-smelling meat cooking in spits over it.

Keras trots over, following Euphemia. He surveys the encampment in relative awe. "This is a pretty impressive structure for just a day's work, I will say. It actually looks like it might stay dry through the storm, which is more than can be said about my own shelter. It is a shame you picked this spot for it, it's quite dangerous at the bank of the lake. Animals tend to gather here because of the clean water and vegetation, but that attracts the larger predators. They'll also likely be sheltering from the storm tonight, but I would not recommend you make this a permanent settlement. So far, the safest place I've found by far is the island in the lake. None of the raptors seem to be able to swim, so if you can safely make the crossing, it's a relative oasis of peace."

When they get to the fire, he kneels down, removing his sodden cloak. "If you've only been here since this morning, I'm supposing that you've not seen the eye?"

Euphemia trails after Keras, and beams proudly, even though she had little to nothing to do with the building. "We thought the same, that the island would be the safest spot, but we didn't have a way to get out there, and there's enough of us that shelter and food seemed like more immediate needs. I bet you we'd be willing to move though, as soon as the storm is over. Although I guess Nanra can't swim." She too settles down by the fire, enjoying the warmth as the muggy thickness of the air begins to sweep away with the cold wind of the pattering raindrops. Her own eyes widen... "No... I've not seen any eye. What is the eye?"

"I'd advise not swimming in the lake. I haven't seen any large predators yet, but there are snakes and large crocodiles in there. I've also seen a few animals try to escape raptors by swimming, and the first things that get to them are the fish. They seem to have a taste for meat. If we wanted to get all of us across, we'd likely have to construct a larger and more sturdy raft. Mine would probably break under more weight."  He takes in a breath, then exhales, looking up at the sky "Right, the eye. Every night, the Eye opens up there." He points to a spot above them. "I suppose it's not really an eye, but it does look eerily like one. It's surrounded by strange lights, and after it opens a voice starts to speak. The language is foreign to me, so I can't actually tell what it's saying, but it's incredibly strange. It sounds metallic, like two swords scraping against one another, and the cadence is monotonous. After about ten minutes or so, different colored beams of light fire from various points around the island and into the Eye. Then, it closes and the sky goes back to normal, as if it were never there. The first time it happened it scared the life from me. It's happened every night so far, but I'm not sure how well we'll be able to see or hear it over the storm."

Taiga follows Euphemia and Keras to the shelter, having already finished sorting the wood. As she walks, various ideas for its use swirl in her mind. She'd love to fashion a shield and perhaps a weapon. Despite the raptor being pacified for now, Taiga doesn't feel entirely safe. However, she notices how Euphemia had struggled to collect herbs earlier. Taiga considers making her task a little easier by crafting a set of wooden clippers. Additionally, she thinks a mortar and pestle would be useful if she manages to find suitable plants to create useful pastes or potions. "So much work", she sighs to herself and enters the makeshift shelter. 

At the shelter she tries - with some reservation - the roasted spider meat while Keras shares his experience from the past week. "It isn't nearly as bad as I had feared," compliments Taiga clumsily. The truth is that at this point, she could probably have eaten it raw to still her hunger. "I can make a raft," Taiga offers in response to Keras' concern about crossing to the island. "We'll need a few young trees. By cutting out joints and adding cross beams, we can make it sturdy enough," she explains confidently.

However, her confidence quickly dissipates when Keras describes the eerie event from the previous night and the nights before. She falls silent, staring up at the sky, unable to shake the image of the eye opening accompanied by a scraping voice. A shiver runs down her spine. 

EUPHEMIA

Nanra settles down beside the shelter once everyone starts to settle underneath the awning to wait out the storm. Her large reptilian eyelids start to droop, and soon she’s fast asleep.

When Euphemia goes and looks for herbs and helpful plants, she has a hard time spotting any she recognizes. Turns out that jungle plants are quite different from the plants she’s used to. However, she does manage to find some white berries that almost resemble pearls that she knows can help keep you awake when tired. Best not to eat too many of them though; sooner or later, exhaustion always catches up to you.

ALL

As you each gather around Keras as he tells you of the secrets he has gleaned from the land, the bulk of the storm finally arrives. Raindrops slam into your roof, some of them even getting through as winds howl and rage outside. Lightning rips the the sky, lighting up the jungle in ominous tones. The mass of angry black clouds blot out the sun overhead, throwing the land into darkness. Luckily, the trees around act as a natural windbreak, so much of the storms fury doesn’t reach you.

Per Euphemia's suggestion, Shin uses a combination of his Tenser's Floating Disk and the carapace to fetch fresh water from the nearest stream, with Mage Hand thrown in to steady it.  Pinky-toe continues watching for snakes or other hazards from his shoulder.

But what really piques his interest is Keras' description of the Eye phenomenon.  For once, Shin is mostly at a loss for words, paying rapt attention and only mumbling "Fascinating..." from time to time as Pinky-toe appears bored, preening herself on his shoulder.

If only I had found a way to write Comprehend Languages into my spell book, I could have ritually cast it just before the Eye's appearance, and...

The ritual he can and does cast, however, is Alarm around the area in which everyone sleeps, designating them (including Nanra) as creatures who will not set off the alarm.  He demonstrates for the others the tinkling bell-like sound it will make if the Alarm is triggered.

As soon as rain starts seeping through the roof, Taiga quickly seals the holes and cracks using Shape Water to freeze the water. She’s aware that this seal will only last for an hour, but if the storm persists, she’ll reapply the spell.

Apart from that, she struggles to relax. The events of the day have been overwhelming, and her mind is racing to process the emotional rollercoaster she's been through. She realizes that the dozing dinosaur by her side is just one of the smaller problems she's facing. With a mixture of excitement and horror, she waits to experience the eye in the sky.

Korinth is keen to go with things as they are. He can't help but think something's missin', but he's too tired to think about it. He leans his head against the raptor and closes his eyes. Good day... Eyes in the sky, hungry monsters. Let 'em come. He'll be ready.

As Keras describes the eye in the sky and the strange voice, Euphemia makes a gesture over herself, probably a religious one. "There's something afoot here, no question," she says. "But you might be right, and we won't see it with the storm." The crackling fire and the rain beating on the roof of their makeshift shelter seems very soothing, despite the threat of ever present danger. She too nibbles on a hot piece of roasted spider meat, and relief floods her body as nourishment finally enters it after all the stress and terror she's been through. She sighs. "I can't tell y'all how good it feels to have food, and shelter, and companions," she says. "It's the right sort of relief a lass needs to go on fighting for another day." She smiles at Taiga, and at Shin. It's clear that the halfling feels the most comfortable with the other little people who are close to her own size.

"Once we've got clear skies again," she says, impressed again with Taiga's useful skills, "let's make us a raft. I reckon we have enough meat to get all of us through today and tomorrow, but we probably ought to keep an eye out for more prey. Nanra near took down this spider on her own," she glances appreciatively at the sleeping raptor, grateful that the animal is relaxed enough with the group to fall asleep. "It was right thrilling. Taiga, I suppose if ye could make us some tools, or axes, we could help easier with the wood harvesting."

She also shows the others the berries she found. "I recognize this type. Stimberries, we called 'em. They'll keep you going in a pinch, but they'll dehydrate you something awful. There's some folk who brew them into a tea to wake up in the morning, but I sure don't recommend that. There's a way to mix 'em to make 'em even more potent, too, but that can wait."

When the storm abates after a few hours, Euphemia takes a short walk by herself on the beach of the lake, feeling the sand between her toes. She keeps an eye on the water, to make sure nothing comes springing out of it at her, but mostly she looks for a nice flat rock or piece of flint, something that could be shaped into a crude blade to make an axe or a hatchet with. If Taiga gave her any other descriptions of items she might need for her work, she'll look around for those too. There are plenty of rocks and stones littering the beach, but most of them are smooth and rounded from the action of the water. She picks up a few and puts them down, but eventually she's able to find what looks like a good, strong, flat rock that could easily have an edge chiseled into it.

When evening comes and the sky begins to darken, she returns to the shelter and starts to bank the fire for the night. She rakes the coals together with a stick, covers them with a few pieces of wood, and pushes the burned ash over the coals to keep them warm until the morning. She takes the remaining well-roasted and well-smoked spider meat off of the spits, and wraps the pieces in some large heliconia leaves. Hopefully, they'll keep well enough and the smell won't attract any predators.

Once she's finished that, Euphemia sits down next to the sleeping raptor. She fingers the chanter of her bagpipes a little, but something in her doesn't want to be that loud right now. Instead, she begins to sing softly.

"Sail, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward, the sailors cry.
Carry the man that's born to be king,
Over the sea to the isle."

Survival: 20 (dirty)
Granting Bardic Inspiration to someone who is working on anything nearby, maybe Taiga.

Taiga gazed at the darkening sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of the 'sky eye', but was reminded that it wouldn't appear for another six hours due to how early it is. It's the cloud cover that made it appear darker and later into the evening she realises. Despite feeling exhausted, lunch and conversation with her new companions refreshed her, and when the rain finally stopped, she resumed her work with the now wet wood. Some tasks could still be done despite the moisture. She selected sturdy, wet branches, setting thicker ones aside to dry for later use as boards and peeling the bark off thinner ones. With sand, she smoothed the wood and began carving a mortar and pestle from a thick, short section of dry wood, carefully hollowing out the bowl and shaping the pestle. Then, she moved on to crafting a herb cutter from another piece of sturdy wood, ensuring it had sharp blades and comfortable handles. She used a saw, chisels, and carving knives to shape the wood, creating a hinge point for the blades to meet. Though lacking a whetstone, she made do with the tools at hand, assembling the herb cutter and sanding the wood. While a coat of oil would have been ideal for protection, Taiga resigned herself to making do without. Using an arm-thick and -long branch, she carved one end into a hollow scoop and fashioned a handle on the other, creating a small shovel ideal for digging out roots in softer ground. 

Carpentry (including d20, Dexterity, Proficiency and Bardic Inspiration -- I assume it is first come first serve basis for the bardic inspiration?): 12+5+2+3 = 22

Taiga presents her creations to Euphemia, showing her the small shovel, the mortar and pestle, and the herb cutter. "Look! I made this for you. I hope it will help you make better use of the plants around here, at least to some extent." She inspects the stone Euphemia found. "Hmm, I think we can break it to create a reasonably sharp edge and then attach a handle. It might not be sharp enough to cut down a tree, but it could be useful for quickly cutting branches or opening hard-shelled fruits. Let's try to fashion it into a blade first thing in the morning, and then I'll make a handle for it. Its effectiveness will depend on how well it breaks into a sharp edge."

Brainstorming with Euphemia about other useful items they could make from wood, Taiga suggests, "As Keras mentioned, we could try making a larger raft. It shouldn't be too difficult, but it will take some time. I wonder what exactly we should prepare for in these waters. If it's just small snakes, adding a bit of a lid to the raft's rim should help prevent them from easily entering it. However, I'm not sure how large the other creatures lurking in these waters might be."

Still contemplating how to build a raft, Taiga eventually falls asleep to the sound of Euphemia's tune, having already forgotten about the giant eye in the sky she had wanted to watch.

Shin smiles as she sees Euphemia relax, perhaps consciously or subconsciously because there are more "little people" nearby now, in addition to the warm fire, food, and shelter from the storm of course.  The goblin is simultaneously self-congratulatory at his correct deduction that this might be the case and genuinely happy for the halfling, and for the similarly diminutive (and very handy) Earth Genasi carpenter who seems to be easing into the spirit of things.  Even Korinth seems at ease with the raptor now, which takes Shin aback, since he himself still harbors reservations.

He summons his Mage Hand periodically to hold small items out of the mud for Taiga as she works.

But as he eases back, Shin decides to make a thorough examination of the gem in his forearm.  He spends multiple hours inspecting it and taking mental notes, yet most of its design, function and purpose elude him as he finds himself more exhausted than he had expected.

Shin Investigation:  11

Pinky-toe observes oh-so innocently in his mind: So after all that, you know that there is a green gem in your arm.  Right?  Why don't you announce your grand discovery to your new companions, only dress it up in complex words and sentences the way you always do so stating the obvious sounds better than it is?  I do so love when you do that.  I'm sure that's not why your previous crew ditched you, no...