At hearing Sieg, Dardek dips finger into the stream, then a few fingers and finally his hand. He washes a little and stops to make sure he doesn’t get eaten alive by leeches before determine Sieg is right with his assessment. He then says embarassingly “I uhh have in books”

“Well, you’ve never seen anything like those two fellas before in your books.  Unless… you have a lot of em.  A lot of books.  Aaaand they are full of pictures about all sorts of things!  Anyway, these things are like mushroom people or something.  They were eating / digesting / growing(!) in this dead fella who had the bad luck to crash his boat.  I was busy pokin at it with an oar, ole Pal got a better look at ‘em.  They creeped me out and I ran away from them, Pal right behind me!  Well, now that there are more of us, and I’ve got this bow that I can shoot ‘em from a ways away… maybe we have a chance… or maybe the’ve left!  But.. sad thing is… we’ve got to get acrosst this river, an I don’t have any way to.  Any idears?”  Nib ponders all of you with an overbite, scratching his head.  

As you're having this conversation, Pal stands in the background fiddling with the device he found in Onifax's lair...a weird rod with various bits of doohickery and tools attached to it...

All of a sudden everyone's attention is drawn to a flash of light in the corner of your eye, followed by a scream.

The screaming person is a middle-aged tradesman about 60' away whose wheelbarrow is now suddenly... inexplicably, on fire. There's a bustle of activity as neighbors quickly smother the fire to get it under control and begin trading recriminations against one and other, desperate to identify the cause. A few eyes glance in your party's direction , but no one seems to be pointing an accusing finger in your direction... yet.

Given the increased security presence triggered by the festival.. well... anything could change. Best not to linger too long.

Pal's too engrossed in fiddling with his rod to pay much attention to the conversation going on. He twists knobs, flicks switches, and presses buttons. When the rod suddenly emits a bolt of fire he yelps and startles. He looks at the rod with wide eyes for a moment then immediately begins trying to replicate the result, but the rod appears spent, at least momentarily. When no more spurts of flame burst forth he mutters, "Hmm... Some sort of refractory period... To prevent overheating perhaps?" As the commotion with the flaming wheelbarrow gets louder, Pal will notice and remark, "Huh, I wonder what's going on over there? Was he hauling wet cattle fodder? It can spontaneously combust you know. The excess moisture creates an ideal environment for fungi and bacteria to thrive creating an exothermic reaction. When internal temperatures become high enough it can suddenly and violently combust." He'll continue on his way, following the rest of the group, examining his rod.

"I have seen mushrooms but not walking and talking ones Mr.Nubbs. I did have a book of" and with the flash of light, explosion and screams, Dardek stops and dives behind a rock

"Swim?!"  Ashley flashes back to almost drowning and vehimently shakes her head.  The explosion shocks her, but as Dardek dives behind a rock, she looks at him and shakes her head.  "We have got to get you to stop hiding, what if we really need you?"

Ashley stares at Pal as he talks about why the wheelbarrow blew up... was he serious or was he trying to make sure blame wasn't on him?  She didn't know these people well enough to know the answer and she decides to stay quiet about it, but watch that stick of his.

Making sure her heavy cloak's hood was up and it was covering most of her skin, she turns to the others, "I think we should try and secure a way across with one of those tradesmen at the dock..."  she looks at Pal and then to the ones arguing over there at the docks and wonders if there chance was gone.

“Pal, what the heck is that?  What was that loud noise it made?  I’m gonna call that thing your BOOM stick, hah!  Be careful with that thing, willya?  So, yeah, I don’t think I can swim acrosst.  Wonder who could get us over?  But see, that’s how Pal and I got ourselves in this pickle and met all of you.  We couldn’t pay for a ferry ride over.”  Nib stops all of a sudden and starts glancing around, looking at faces, trying to recognize anyone familiar.  “Uhhh, some parts here, I gotta be careful.  Don’t think they saw me…. *ahem*”

Dardek stands up from behind the rock "Hiding? No I thought I saw the miscreant who tried to assassinate me behind this rock....I, I, I was going to drag him out her to meet justice!" Dardek says convincing no one

Pal will look up at Nib, "Huh? Boom stick? That's a rather base reduction of it's functions Nib. I'd prefer to call it the Ballistic Omnidirectional Omnifunction Manipulator, but I suppose Boom Stick is more aesthetically pleasing... If you're concerned which such triviality." Pal will continue to follow the group, half-listening and offering half-hearted input as his focus is elsewhere, "Secure passage, yes; I agree."

Nib scratches the back of his head, screwing up his face as he considers…”Ahh… that probably wouldn’t be me… sorry.”  He keeps looking around, looking at faces and considering their situation.  “Ifn it doeesn’t cost much, let’s take a ferry acrosst the river.  I’ve got a silver piece or two…”

Dardek sheepishly looks at the others and then to his feet "I.......have had to be persuasive many times with some success in the past. I could do the talking for us if you'd like."

The six of you make your way to the trade docks. Most of the folk you see are unloading goods to sell at the festivities... Nib, you half-expect to see some farmers from Figbrook among them, but alas... you see none. However, a few potential options present themselves for passage across the river:

You see an older, brown-skinned woman, set apart from most of the merchants, casually loading empty baskets back into an empty skiff, apparently hading back on a return voyage...

You see an experienced looking boatman, skinny, sunburned, helping a trio of working-class family offload onto the pier.   By the enthusiasm of the children, it seems like the boatman must've taxied them down to enjoy the festival.

Meanwhile, the hubub over by the wheelbarrow has a few people pointing fingers in your general direction. Doesn't seem like anyone has identified you as the source of the fire, but there's a general sense that it came from the area where you emerged....

Ashley hangs back with an eye on the hubub.  "Normally I'd be happy to chat up the locals to see if we could get a ride, but well, just in case any of them know Brother Emmit.." and she gulps, with a little shudder and if possible, squeezes the hood over her eyes more, making sure all parts of her are covered.

Dardek starts to wander towards the lady loading her boat. He moves to pick one of the baskets up while saying to her "Hello there. May I help you load your baskets?" He smiles and bows. "I was hoping to secure a little ride across the river for me and my friends. You see the rabbit man over there is not a good swimmer. You know those tiny little rabbits and how they can't swim so good....well neither can he....We could help you load up your boat and pay you a little for escorting us, if that would be ok with you mam"

As Dardek approaches the boat, he catches a distinct scent of fish. A few nets and lures in the woman's boat suggest this might've been the cargo she just offloaded here in town.

Hearing Dardek's voice, the woman turns with an uncertain look, perhaps expecting trouble from one of the local ruffians... When she sees the kind face of young Dardek, her concern dissolves and a slight gentle smile creases her cheeks.

For a moment, she seems not to have noticed his question, distracted because...

"You have starlight in your cheeks." She says, a look of slight wonder in her eye as she examines the flecks of metallic glint on the boy's face. 

Seeing your companions standing behind Dardek brings her back to the present and she considers the question, studying him. "Well... This old skiff's not much for comfort... Only made to fit an old woman and a shipment of pike... But seeing as I'm headed back up to Silverbrook anyways, I suppose it wouldn't be any trouble to bring you across. Seems wrong to charge you each for the ride though. Sure you'll spend twice as much getting the smell of old fish off your clothes." She sets another basket in the boat and sniffs the air.

"Though maybe you'll be spending that coin anyways..."

She looks past you all, taking measure of the scene, then regards you all once more before finally settling her mind. "Five copper and I'll bring you all across... That includes your kobold friend there... Just make sure to keep close watch on him and make sure he doesn't leave his little droppings on the barge."

With that, she pulls the last of her baskets onto the barge and motions for you all to join her aboard.

Dardek smiles "Oh thank you kindly mam. I appreciate the kindness. One of the others will pay you as the come aboard. Before they do though, what did you mean by starlight in my cheeks?" Dardek turns to the others and smiles waving them to come aboard

Nib turns to Talon and says with a straight face, “You heard the lady.  No pooping.  If you’ve got to go, you’ve gotta hold it until the other side.  Mmm kay?  No stinkroots in the boat!”  Nib turns back around, giving a thumbs up to the lady.  His hand goes to his stomach, rumbling and he looks concerned.  He looks down at his sack of rations, suspicious for a moment.  He hands the lady a silver piece and says “Five copper?”