Welcome to the Jungle!

     "Don't need sleep or light, huh?  That sounds handy.  You'll have to teach me that trick sometime," Mulligan says with a smile, but a sense of amazement bouncing around inside his head.  Just who all are these people and what is he doing with them?  Sure, he knows a few parlor tricks but...

     "So night travel it is," Mulligan says, stating the obvious just to get his brain back on track.  "I don't mind taking a middle or last shift of watch.  As I said, I'll just sleep through half the day.  Someone just wake me up for meal, eh?"

ill take tha last one ifn tha is alrigh

As you quickly decide who amongst you is taking which watch, the sun begins to set and before long, the ship is illuminated by a few lanterns and perhaps the magical efforts of the Professor. With Cliff manning the rudder and Shae, Falx and the Professor on lookout, the rest of you all start to bed down for a few hours, before your own turn at watch comes.

The first two hours of the night pass quietly, interrupted only by the occasional croaking of a some nearby toads and the piercing calls of nightbirds. Once or twice, Whiff alerts the Professor to hidden logs in the stream that you manage to circumvent or otherwise redirect so as not to jostle the boat or damage the hull.  Shae and Professor, the two of you, not so versed in a sailor's tasks, focus more on the water and the surrounding shores, and though barely noticeable at first, by the time the first watch is nearing its end and with the crew apart from Shae getting ready to bed down, you notice that the river has narrowed considerably, down to maybe a hundred yards across.

Reng, Mulligan and Brax neatly take over their respective duties, Reng filling in seamlessly for Cliff before her, and the brawny Brax making sure that any obstacles are pushed out of the way safely. For about an hour or so, the river continues to narrow, down to about forty yards. It's only about another half hour later, that you notice that the river has started to widen, a truth which is hidden by the fact that a lot of driftwood has collected in the shallower waters near the banks. It's Shae's keen sense as a navigator and cartographer that starts to tingle, when she realises that you're headed into a still lake that doesn't exist on the maps- that shouldn't exist. Something or someone is blocking the river up ahead!

What do you all want to do?

     “Wake everyone up!” Mulligan says, softly but urgently.  “This could be a trap…”  Mulligan would nudge Brax off to the task (assuming they’d know the most important shiphands to summon) but tell them to wake the party members first.  
     “Can we get light?” Mulligan would then ask Shae, figuring the the most likely to be capable.  “Not on the ship but out there?  On the edges of the water?  Try to light it up if anyone is out there hiding, waiting in ambush?”

     Meanwhile, Mulligan has drawn his rapier and a dagger and he’s prowling around the edge of the ship, peering and listening out for danger…

Glasses:

Waking up quickly but staying down low, the Professor checks his spells and realizes the Mage Armor is still active (on himself, and therefore Mushu and Whiff as well).  Mentally he asks Whiff to fly high and give him a mephit's eye view of the situation as Shae hopefully illuminated the lake.

Berrus shaken awake decides to forego his armor and creeps up near Shae tensed and ready sword in hand and shield affixed to his right arm

wha d'ye sense Shae?

“There’s a difference between tricks and talent.” Shae would return Mulligan’s smile with an ’innocent’ one of her own.

Night travel it was, and fairly peaceful. Shae was blanketed in a sense of comfort and safety from her confidence in the skilled crew. Shifts came and went.

Shae barely got the word out when Mulligan would start calling the shots and giving direction. “Guess it’s time to shed some light on the subject so you can see for yourselves…” She’d respond softly to the incoming questions as the crew started to gather. Shae would then begin to hum a gentle melody beneath her breath as she’d reach up towards the sky as if pinching and plucking a star from it. She’d cradle a dim light in her palm and bring it close to her lips. Singsong words are whispered, causing the light to brighten, dance and flicker. Then she’d blow. The bright mote would drift from her palm and float out into the centre of the area of interest. Snap. With a snap of her fingers, it’d expand, illuminating the area with daylight.

     "Alas," Mulligan replies with a shrug. "I am rich in one, poor in the other..."

...

     Mulligan blinks in the sudden light, trying to readjust his eyes and desperately looking to see if his suspicions are right.  Still, he can't help but wonder about the light...  And idly wonders if she could cast that on a stone and swing it around on a rope.  He then gives a mental shrug and returns to looking around.

Even pushing the light as far out from the boat as possible, the lake's edge is only dimly visible from your ship. As everyone wakes up though, you can make out logs and branches jutting out of the water about 50 yards in front of you, making it look as though the river was dammed up, either by animals, hazard, or for a specific purpose.

While the adventurers ready themselves, Thessalandra and the shiphands quickly go about tying down the sails to reduce the risk of fires, should anyone try and set their sails ablaze. Reng is being replaced Thessa, and the Captain does her best to steer clear of any debris floating in the water.

As the ship gets closer and the damn dam is appearing before you more clearly, Brax and Cliff drop the anchor, to avoid the ship getting damaged on the submerged logs or beached up on the dam. About thirty feet away from the dam, you all notice some truly large trees making up part of the dam, with roots as thick as a man's torso winding their way out of the water, like grasping arms of someone drowning.

Thessalandra speaks up, under her breath: "This place gives me the creeps. Problem is, the lake is too wide to illuminate both sides at the same time, and right now we're sat directly under the light."

Fang, where are you currently?

Glasses:

The Professor continues to look at the situation from above through Whiff’s eyes, trying to understand what is going on—perhaps if there are any creatures hiding in the dam or any weak spots in the structure.

Perception:  17

Investigation:  14

Squinting from the sudden light Berrus peers out into lake.

Perception:  21

     If the light is indeed above the ship, it should be moved.  Extinguished and recast or however it can be done.  If this is a trap, the last thing we want is to be illuminated for our foes ease of targeting...

     Are there small dinghys that one can take off the main boat, or is the main boat not big enough for such?  Because Mulligan is of a mind to slip ashore and investigate as quietly as possible...

(I'm going to post for Fang at the moment, until we have him back so that we can continue in the meantime)

Professor and Berrus, you can both make out the light snoring from your reptilian companion, who bedded down for the night in the crow's nest and is still asleep, given present indications.

Professor, using Whiff's senses, you are able to see several creatures in and around the dam. You think you can make out two or three large crocodiles using the warmer still water as their breeding and hunting grounds and now slowly moving towards the ship, but probably more so out of curiosity than malice or need to hunt. Focusing back on the dam, you can tell that it is assembled out of flotsam and driftwood, with few branches hewn off of trees to add to the whole. Over what you estimate to have been almost a week, sediment and mud collected on the dam, plugging gaps but also providing soil to several plants that you can see overgrow the dam. You also figure that the stench coming from the dam is probably due to the rotting wood and the drying mud, but there's a rotting sweetness to it that you vaguely recognise but can't seem to place right now. As far as weak spots go, there are some overgrown patches that seem to be far less built up than other areas.

Berrus, looking out into the darkness from the ship, you can't make use of your darkvision to peer all the way to the lake's edge. Still, you're an experienced soldier and you've gotten so far by listening to your gut and your gut is telling you that this is an ambush. Relying on your natural sight and shielding the sides of your field of vision with your hands so that the light from the ship doesn't interfere, you look out onto the lakeside, maintaining a sweeping gaze and not trying to focus on any one place. It's an old technique you learned when fighting at night, as the dwarven eye is better at picking out movement than shapes. And sure enough, you spot something! Three, no, four creatures slowly approaching the shoreline, taking care not to be spotted and seemingly investigating the ship you all sailed in on. You lose them a couple of times when they stop moving and blend back into their surroundings, but you're sure of it- you're not alone!

Berrus quietly holds up three then four fingers and points towards the shoreline

     Mulligan does his best to silently coordinate with the others while maintaining his defensive positioning and straining to see out into the darkness and to spot their foes.  

     "Come sniffing around the ship as you like," Mulligan calls boldly out into the night air.  "But lay one hand, foot or claw upon her and you shall pay dearly!  We are no tourist yacht on a three hour tour, we are hardened warriors with more important matters to deal with than you.  We shall spare you a minute, perhaps three, for you to make a case as to why and what we should pay for passage through your land.  If we deem your price pithy enough to not be worth slaughtering you instead, then you shall have it...  Otherwise clear our passage and begone from our sight or your lives are forfeit and your remains shall be crafted into public toilets!"

Persuasion: 20 (five less if you prefer Intimidation...)

     Throughout his little speech, Mulligan continues scanning the darkness, looking for his first target...

Glasses:

The Professor mumbles something about smelling death and tries to think what manner of undead might be around.  He mentally asks Whiff to use aquatic capability to look below the surface of the water to see if anything is approaching the ship from below.

Religion for Undead:  17

He also considers if his spell, Tidal Wave, might be able to break loose the dam at one of the weak spots he just identified.

Arcana for using Tidal Wave:  24

Mulligan, your shouts echo out across the water, so far to no avail. A short glance to Berrus confirms however that the figures are still there.

Professor, you remember from the notes earlier that the left bank borders territory that is frequently overrun by undead, though you don't see any obvious sings of undead on the dam or near it, all you see are the dead wooden branches and vines of the plants sprouting up from between the dam. Sensing through Whiff, you see that these vines extend to below the waterline as well and that several plants have bulbous bodies, but you can't make out any undead.

As far as the dam is concerned, you reckon that a lucky tidal wave at the right point could break through, but it's far from guaranteed.

After a little hmming and hawing to herself, Shae would catch herself fiddling with her bracelet. Inhaling a deep breath, she'd begin to hum a melody she hadn't sung in a long time. The first one she ever sung on the island. Today, it was mostly for self comfort as the sense of nostalgia tugged at her heart. Only two others have heard her sing it, and the Professor would be the only one there who could possibly recognize it. As the sound flowed from her lips, she'd feel the familiar weightlessness envelope her. Then, with an added gesture of her hands light sparkling pink magic would begin accumulating at her back.

Shae would push off the deck of the ship and soar straight up into the sky with a spin. As she'd come to a stop in front of her centre light that shone upon the area, she'd unfurl a pair of 'wings', casting a dramatic shadowed silhouette. From this new vantage point, Shae would survey the area with Berrus' silent report in mind. To support his scout, she'd scan the direction in which he pointed, but would also do a full check around them, especially any blind spots. Though, the woman also had other thoughts coming to mind. She couldn't get the thought of who could be intelligent enough to put together such an elaborate trap? Were they just victim to a random trap, or were they actually the specific target?

Challenging her, and everyone's, eyesight further, Shae would reach into her pack. Taking hold of her often ignored and purposeless boomerang, she'd extend her magic onto it. It'd begin to glow with, you guessed it, light. Then with a wide sweep of her arm, she'd throw it out towards the dam to illuminate it first. Trusting Berrus and the others to keep an eye out for their threats, she wanted to help the Professor investigate the blockade first. Then should she prove to be able to handle her light sweep without concern, she'd be ready/willing/able to sweep any areas of concern.

Berrus smiles as Shae takes flight.  With her out of his protection range he shifts position so that he is between the professor and the figures on the shore.

 Plannin any o' yer tricks 'fesser?

Glasses:

”I suppose you could say that, Berrus…I have a plan for pulling down the dam at one of the three weak points Whiff has identified, but it will take some muscle and finesse as well as a bit of magic to pull it off,” responds the Professor.  “Of course, we may have to deal with whomever made the dam in the first place—do we have any idea if they are hostile or friendly?”

To Thassalandra, he calls, “Do not approach the dam too closely, captain…The plants in the muck have long tendrils under the waterline and bulbous bodies, which does not bode well for our hull if we get ensnared.”