Perception (with modifiers):4

Son helpfully points out north for everyone's benefit.

It's only after Mark points it out that Son notices the ship.

Son squints down at the boat and says,

"Looks right. How many do you see down there and how do you think we should go about getting down?"

Talon's perception: 20 (passive is 18 btw)

Talon sees much the same as Mark and Blue, there are dozens of figures milling about on the ship, and as you watch, the cage is lowered, unloaded, then raised again.

((18? With a +3, I'm not following the math there!))

Quote from Spiderwrangler >>

Talon sees much the same as Mark and Blue, there are dozens of figures milling about on the ship, and as you watch, the cage is lowered, unloaded, then raised again.

((18? With a +3, I'm not following the math there!))

(( I took Observant feat ))

((Ah, OK! Just realized I hadn't leveled Talon in the app I've been using!))

"So... Do we just yell down to them and see what happens? Based on what Father said they aren't too friendly."

"They may not be friendly, but right now this seems to be the best chance we have of getting off of this forsaken rock.  They seem to be occupied currently, so it may make more sense to get closer before alerting them of our presence, in case they're confrontational.  From here, they'd have more time to prepare."

"...and then run if they get confrontational?"

((They are on the other side of a rocky bay from you, maybe 300 ft across the water, but if you wanted to walk out of view around to the bluff they are anchored below, it'd be at least a mile to go a bit inland, cross that river, and circle around to the other side. It's currently near mid day.)) 

"I guess I can write a sky message to them? Ask them something and see how they react?"

((Skywrite is anywhere in the sky you can see, and doesn't have restriction on size of the font, just number of words, so you could put it wherever you want, and have it say almost anything.))

"Or I could fly over to the other side and take a closer look. If they get violent I'll just fly back to you.", says Talon and he starts preening the feathers on his left wing.

"Probably going to get more information doing that than if I write  -

"Hello! Are you people going to press gang us?"

In the sky."

((A detail you'd have been able to see that I forgot to mention. The figures in the distance are small, but you can tell they are wearing assorted colored clothing, unlike you guys, who all washed up in a similar uniform.))

As you ponder your next move, the cage is filled with folks from the deck of the ship and winched to the top, where they exit, and move off into the forest while those working on loading and unloading place a crate into the cage and send it back down.

"Go on and check it out Talon. They seem to have been here a long enough time to get established and that thing operating."

Talon flies over the water, not directly to them, but in an arc to have some cover from the vegetation. He stops in a tree close enough so that he can see in detail what's going on.

Stealth d20: 5

Perception: 7

They all seem largely focused on their tasks, and no one notices as Talon climbs to the air and circles around, or if they do notice, take him for some sort of seabird. Descending, Talon perches in a tree and watches as a band of them move out from the bluff face heading deeper in. Most of them are carrying curved swords but not of a consistent make, with a few bearing assorted hatchets, daggers and crossbows. The one who seems to be directing the others is better dressed, in a long blue coat, a bit crusted with salt and worn, but surely expensive once. Seems a bit warm for a coat, most of the others are lightly dressed in loose pants and vests, but fashion makes its own demands. He carries a longsword at his hip, and a large hat. A few of the others have smaller hats, some have their greasy hair pulled back under pieces of cloth knotted in the back, others are bald. They seem to have had lots of accidents as there are more than a couple with an eye covered by a patch, or a hand gone, and replaced with a spike or hook, and many of them have visible scars and tattoos.

A cawing draws your attention to a raven that flutters down to perch on the leader's shoulder.

((Talon, give me an Insight check please!))