Yroc was about to move closer to the woman when the armor-plated knight rushes out of the darkness towards him, stopping him in his tracks. He has seen the spikes recede, but he knows better than to move without caution around an iron-clad warrior.

He is about to speak, but suddenly the fire explodes with a crack of thunder behind him, making him duck down in surprise. When he looks up, there is a Tiefling grinning at him. "What makes you think I am your friend?" he says carefully, his voice deep and carrying a heavy accent, but the words at least formed with the correct grammar.
His dark green skin is mottled and covered in an oily layer of the paste to ward off biting insects, and numerous red jagged lines are tattooed across his body. His long black hair is thin, with a single long strand of it braided that has fallen over his shoulder down to his collarbone. His jaw, too, is covered in wispy black hair, and long tusks protrude up from his lower jaw. His ears are long and pointed, but partly cauliflowered from many bouts of combat.

" we could always tie you back up and dangle you over the fire like a roasting lamb. I didnt want to confuse the frog boys by saying we are here for the strange green monkey who plays with demons..."

She chuckles a bit and then says, " if you do not wish to be friends, then run off now thanking Krull the imp for finding you. Otherwise, come with us and help us rid the world of the death curse, which afflicts all peoples."

She holds her hand out to shake the Orcs.

Yroc scowls when he is referred to as a monkey, but his eyes snap to meet the Tiefling's at the mention of the death curse. "I am here to deal with the curse as well. It seems our paths do align, and I welcome your rescue from the frogs."
It is clear he struggles to deal with the humiliation, but he knows there was little he could have done to prevent it.

With a wary glance at the iron-clad Human he steps forward to clasp the Tiefling's forearm. "My things should be here in the camp. From what I could tell they have not dumped it. With your permission...?" he trails off, looking from one to the other, still uncertain of his role among his rescuers. They might be hesitant to let him reclaim his things and arm himself, despite their initial kind words.

" Of course, see what you can recover from the frogs so we can head out. We will get you some food and water back at camp"

The frog men, having been woken up and attacked, grabbed very little of even their own gear.  As you all look around, you find a large 3 person tent, a 1 person tent, Yroc seems to find a full suit of chainmail, a shield, hunting gear, trapping gear, a backpack, mess kit, some hand axes, longsword, rope and some clothes (all of your belongings), as well you also find 4 daggers, 5 short bows and two dozen arrows carved from local wood and fletched with feathers, 15 days worth of dried fish rations, a few small bags, and what looks like a kit of local herbs, plants, and fungus along with some woollen wraps...perhaps a local healing kit, and what looks like a bunch of small personal items, necklaces, arm wraps, leg wraps, or the like for a small sized frog like folk. As you guys search through the camp, with the bright light from Silas' shield, the frog men do not regroup and attack, but you occasionally hear movement in the jungle. 

You also examine the two dead green Grung.  Kasaaptu, you spend a few moments scraping a mild scum clinging to their bare skin into a small jar, having heard that it's poisonous. 

Throughout this meeting of new friends(?) Badger will keep watch on the dark of the forest, ready to sound the alarm and defend the group should the grung return. He will help carry any gear they want to loot, but he is interested in the bags and rations, and the healing kit if no-one else claims it. The large tent might be too big for him to carry, but he can bring the small one.

Having scrounged the gear the group wants to take, they leave behind the small encampment. The jungle stays quiet for many minutes after the group picks their way through the jungle. The only sounds left are the crackling of the small dying fire. A snake slowly slithers it's way across the camp and into the bush on the far side. A small rodent scampers out, stopping at the body of a grung, sniffing at it's skin...before scrunching its nose in distaste and scampering away without so much as a lick. Finally, several dark forms creep back into the camp, alert for danger, before checking over their dead and poking through their ransacked belongings.  Black lifeless amphibian eyes regard the scene, a caustic hatred imperceptible, but present all the same.

The group returns to their camp a short ways away. Azaka is on guard from a hidden vantage point up in a tree and hops down, shouldering her bow as she silently regards the rescued orc. She asks for an update, and after receiving one suggests they double the watch tonight. She doesn't particularly notice or greet the orc.  She's not disdainful, just...disinterested. 

Regardless of extra caution taken, they are all for not as the evening passes uneventfully.  The next morning however is another matter. As people are waking up an preparing for the day, the wind begins picking up and large splotches of rain begin falling.  Before long rain catchers are full, but the wind and rain have also both increased, as the sheeting torrent of rain is blown sideways with viscousness by the harsh winds.  Cracks of trees can be heard as huge branches crack down.  Azaka walks around to each person shouting, "secure your equipment and animals, and take shelter, it's a storm and we need to wait it out."  

The storm is fierce and everyone is soaked before long, though the wind and rain are a welcome respite from the sweltering heat. Everyone takes shelter using the natural surroundings for as much cover as possible while avoiding the small rivulets of running water that turn into tiny creeks and pools of swirling muddy water. This does give everyone time to sit tight and chat to their new ally, who, apparently, was on the same quest as them. 

Silas will ritually cast Detect Magic and look around the area, the party and anything else of magical note. Then after that, try to give everyone a medicine check considering what happened with Badger. 

Kasaaptu would like some samples from the frogs herbs but none of the other stuff. Krull would have taken one or two of the crude frogman necklaces. He is still happy with the result of the raid. Other than he would have preferred to kill them all. Kasaaptu was pondering the rush of life she felt when she killed the frogman. The surge of power filled her with a kind of euphoria ( 6 temp hp added at the time) She wondered what it would have felt like had she killed 10...would she be able to handle that kind of power?

She will ask about the orcs markings to see if they were mortal work or given by his patron

Sickle would have hung back at first, trying to get a sense of this one that they rescued.  Upon discovering the now-freed captive was full orc, he was wary. He had spent most of his life among the dwarves and humans and other beings in the city of Miramar, and had only recently spent any time among his mother’s people in the Spine.  He knew the mark of Gruumsh was a difficult thing to fight, even from his own experience, but then again, he knew it could be done. But then he saw the wariness in the orc’s posture, and he softened a bit, knowing that trust must be earned on both sides. He smiled softly.  That was definitely his mother’s way of thinking coming through.

He would have ritually cast Detect Poison and Disease before resting and once again checked everyone in the camp, especially the newcomer, specifically to make sure they had had no brushes with the poison of the frogs..

The next day, as they waited out the storm, he found himself next to Yroc. He struggled for a moment to find words, then said, “So, what tribe are you from?”

(I’m assuming we have shared names at least among the group.)

Upon reaching the camp, Badger had little time for anything before rest, other than memorising his spells for the next day. In the morning, as it was raining, he spent a few moments gazing into his crystal globe to get a reading on their fortunes for the day... (Portent: 14, 17) ... and then turned his attention to the more pressing matter: the newcomer! It was all well and good to talk to the orc, as Badger himself looked forward to doing, but that would reveal little compared with what he could learn by examining the subtle workings of fate. Just as he did for his other companions, Badger took a moment in seclusion to draw two cards from his Barovian tarokka deck...

After performing his reading, and realising the rain had turned torrential and that they wouldn't be travelling anytime soon, he joined the others to hear more about Yroc and his origins.

Yroc looks down at the halfblood, looking for any tribal markings that might betray his heritage. "I am of the Kra'k Toch, although that name may only rest with me now. Most of my tribe was decimated by a necromancer. We lived on a different continent, I believe, far away from the large city-tribes of Men."

His yellowed eyes search Kasaaptu's. "The tattoos are markings of the Kra'k Toch, but the Tribe of Ancients has not abandoned me, this is true. I am far from the holy lands, and my soul may never sit around the blue fires, but they continue to grant me the strength to fight, to seek out this necromancer and avenge the blood of my tribesmen."

He snorts out some of the rainwater that drips along his nose before he continues. "I set out with three other warriors after the necromancer fled from Orcen lands, but I lost sight of them in a snowstorm as we crossed the mountains. I pushed on alone, eventually reaching the city-tribe of Deep Water after following rumors of his path for four, long years. It led me to the doorstep of a powerful Mage-shaman, Syndra Silvane. She told me the necromancer could have been causing this death plague, this death curse, or would at least be attracted to it. I agreed to join a group of hunters, and she..."

He trails off, trying to find the word to use, but after a few moments he gives up and simply continues, "She made us be here.

"The leader of our hunt, a Priest-shaman, led us into this wilderness, this place of madness and poison. Of lizards that grow larger than trees. We did not last a week within this place. Or, well, I have." His eyes grow a little wild as he continues, still shaken from the experiences these past days, if not weeks, "There are waters you cannot drink, and waters you can drink. The ground is not for sleeping. You cannot eat the berries unless you know."

"I do not need to know. I can cleanse the food and water by Torm's kindness but of you know, it may afford me more spells for enemies," Silas mentions as he checking everyone for injuries, "May I ask do you know what retreat means?"

Nothing magical is found in the Grung camp. Everyone appear to be free from disease and poison at the moment. That said, casting detect poison and disease in this jungle feels a bit like looking at one of those over-priced multi-colored splatter paintings you'd find in a Waterdeep noble's house. Disease and poison seem to be present all around, from the water, to the leaves, to the tiny poisonous ants wandering around the jungle floor.  It's a bit overwhelming, but focusing on individuals, you find they're all mostly clean.  Several have some trace amounts of disease on their clothes and/or skin that, as long as they don't start licking everything, shouldn't be too much of a problem.  Your new ally Yroc seems free of disease and poison as well. 

With the storm coming to an end, the rain ceasing and the wind reducing to a gentle consistent breeze rushing through the forest, Azaka presses the party to continue.  Everyone continues to chat with Yroc as you go, moving through the muddy somewhat cool jungle, the brush of leaves and and bush a constant hushing sound in the background that washes out the usual jungle sounds.  (Please feel free to continue your conversation as you walk.) 

Azaka takes a bit of a wide berth around the last known spot of the Grung, and you resume following the river south, wading through three creeks and turn east to follow a tributary too deep to wade through, and that Azaka says is too dangerous to swim across. In the afternoon you find a spot to traverse, and do so cautiously, aware of the giant turtle's hidden attack from beneath the murky brown water. On the far side you resume back to the main river. An hour later you come across a dead body. It's a mangled female body, seemingly a half-elf, half-eaten, and at least a day old. It's difficult to tell how she died because of the scavenging. Her body smells terribly and there is no gear left on her aside from scraps of her clothing.

That night you find a camping spot 100 feet back from the main river and setup camp. As you sit around preparing camp and dinner and eating, you realize this may have been your first full day that the jungle hasn't tried to actively kill you.  Gregory knocks on a fallen log, to drive off a bad omen. 

(OOC: Unless otherwise directed, I will roll randomly for watch time slots, in general, as you camp. As usual, feel free to interject and interrupt anywhere along the timeline of the previous day, and to resume your conversations with Yroc. Let me know if you do anything special this evening.) 

Yroc fixes Silas with a deadpan glare. "If you don't, you had best learn quick. This place does not pull its punches. As I said, my companions did not last a week, and it is only because the frogs came across me first and decided I was a useful slave, that I am still living and breathing now."
Over the course of travel he shares some of the tricks he picked up among his time with the Grung, and is happy to learn that Azaka is a local. "We had a guide, but he died among the rest all the same. But as I was saying, my rain-catcher was destroyed when the giant lizard almost crushed me. The frogs had me drink from leaves, and over time I learned to identify a few of the berries that are safe, and some which are not. There are a few roots that can be eaten safely, and it is unwise to sleep on the ground. Ware the blue mist, and when the ground starts shaking, either hide or start running."

Sickle answers Yroc, “My father is a human, a merchant noble in Mirabar.  My mother is of the Skortchclaw, in the Spine. She was an ambassador to Mirabar, when the Skortchclaw made peace with the city.  She is a follower of the Old Ways, and set me on a path to follow her.  She it was who showed me that something in the world was sick, and so I am here with you.”

"You never dealt with Clerics have you?" Silas questions, "Looks like no lasting injuries or aliments so you're good for now," 

That night, unless we get attacked and Silas runs out of spell slots, he'll cast Purify Food and Drink on the food and just munches down. 

Kasaaptu has drawn the lot of the final watch and is up early, letting Silas head to his hammock for a final couple hours of rest. The early morning air is relatively cool after yesterday's storm, and overnight the wind has died down leaving the forest nearly silent. Even the sound of the large river nearby creates very little noise as it lazily moves towards the ocean. She focus' on her patron, and converses a bit with Krull who perches in a tree nearby. Roll Perception as you sit watch. You can roll for Krull as well.