The Statue

SPACE The group rests, filling their bellies with fresh fruit and fire-roasted fish.

SPACE “That shrine you speak of is on the way back to Deepbush,” Cyrdan offers.
SPACE “Then it is to Deepbush we travel,” Alliandra replies. She is eager to take a first-hand look at this shrine to the evil goddess, Ochretia. If what Alasdair related is true, the Arachnid Queen’s influence is strong here indeed.

SPACE The telltale chittering spooks the group into action. Springing to their feet, adrenalin rushing, they look frantcially about for the source of the sound. Finally, they zero in on it only to find Tharg doing an exactly replicated chittering call of the dreaded things.
SPACE “Oops,” he apologizes after noticing the reaction.

SPACE Alasdair sits beside Tharg, who begins to slurp down a large gourd in cheek-packing mouthfuls. Turning and speaking to Garn, loudly enough for all to hear, he says, “Did you see how Conner put that Cain to sleep? That was some cool shit...”
SPACE Garn makes eye contact with Cain, who sits directly behind the blonde barbarian, and tries to stifle a laugh.
SPACE Cain appears furious. He eyes squint up a bit and then he turns and faces the empty area just over his shoulder. “Goddammit, shut up!” he yells at the wall. Turning back toward Garn, he says, “Stop laughing!”
SPACE Grant, pulling himself up to his feet, addresses the infuriated elf. “If you start any more shit, I'll put you in your grave.” The dwarf’s face makes a minor grimace at the pain in his shoulder, but he clenches his fists together and shakes one at Cain. “You got that, you pointy-eared, flower-sniffing fairy?!”
SPACE Tharg and Conner take their feet as well, eager for Cain to begin a battle he couldn’t possibly win. The elf sticks out his chest and increases the volume of his voice enough to create a feint echo. “Pay attention at what I say. Your lives depend on it and I ain’t saying it twice,” he begins. “I can be your best ally or your worst enemy. It’s up to you.” At this point, he again faces the opposite direction, and, as if talking to no one, hollers, “Would you shut the fuck up?! I'll handle it!” Addressing the group again, Cain continues. “Nobody, and I mean nobody, will ever.. ever… evereverevereverever… lay their hands on me again.” He pauses, seemingly to allow his words to soak in. “Or you will die where you stand.”
SPACE Alliandra looks to Cyrdan for an explanation. He again merely shrugs his shoulders. It seems he is somewhat used to these little outbursts.
SPACE “And you,” Cain goes on, pointing at Conner. “Nobody has ever touched me like that and lived to brag about it. If you even think about doing that again, I’m gonna let you know what my pleasures really consists of.”
SPACE Looking at Alliandra, the angry elf continues. “Sister, your debt is paid for now, but you’ll need me again soon.” With that, he makes his way passed the dumbfounded stares of the rest of the group toward the cave’s entrance. He seems to be talking to somebody.
SPACE “What? You could of done better, my ass! What the hell are you talking about? I’m not in the mood for your shit, so just keep walking and shut the hell up. You can’t even clap, you rat-raping prick…”

SPACE Following the scene of oddity, the group begins to clean up its camp. Cyrdan suggests taking the chest full of clothing for sale once they reach Deepbush. They exit the cave back out to a beachy area. The sun is shining brightly, though it is lowering itself into the sea.
SPACE “Sun go to sleep soon,” Conner says.
SPACE “He’s right,” Cyrdan confirms. “We should get going. We only have a few more hours of sunlight and these jungles are no place to be after dark.”
SPACE “Can you lead us to that statue?” Alliandra asks him.
SPACE “No problem,” replies Cyrdan.
SPACE “Tharg, Conner,” the cleric instructs. “Bring Kavan and Tarsis.” The barbarians reenter the cave and reemerge with the dead bodies. “We’ll leave them in the clearing with Sable.”

SPACE “Look here,” Alasdair points down to the sand. “Here’s those footprints we saw earlier.” These prints only confirm what Cyrdan had told them; some pirates did survive the wreck.

SPACE The group makes its way into the jungle and easily finds the clearing where Garn laid the body of his elven friend, Sable. The fallen log he laid her against is also easy to find, but no Sable.
SPACE “Maybe some animal came and dragged her off,” Alasdair reasons. This brings Garn to stifle a sob, his childlike sniffles tell the tale of his undying loyalty. “Sorry…” he adds upon hearing Garn’s sadness.
SPACE Cyrdan looks to the crying warrior and comforts him. “Elves are of sylvan blood. Your friend is one with the forest now.” Garn appears uncomforted. “If there are any fae in the area, they have taken her body and disposed of it properly. They performed the rites of passage and she has become one with nature once more.” Garn looks up at Cyrdan as if he knows that what the elven archer is telling him is important. “An animal may have gotten a hold of her body,” he continues, “and that’s okay. She belonged to nature and now she is a part of nature once more.”
SPACE Garn still doesn’t seem pleased, but he does appear satisfied. Tharg and Conner lay their loads against the same fallen log.
SPACE “What about Kavan?” Garn asks of Cyrdan. “Kavan isn’t elfie. He won’t get to be nature.”
SPACE “We’ll bury him,” Alliandra instructs. “Go and get as many rocks as you can find and we’ll make him a grave.”
SPACE Garn moves off into the brush and begins picking up stray rocks and stones. Tharg and Conner help him out as Alliandra and Alasdair venture off in the direction of the statue.

SPACE Once Kavan’s grave is completed, the party joins Alliandra and Alasdair. A statue sits at the southern end of this clearing. Standing ten feet tall, it is apparently made of stone. Its visage is that of a monster, with many sets of pupil-less eyes and enormous mandibles where a mouth should be. Eight arms remain outstretched, and each hand holds a rotting, mangled skull. Not skulls of stone, but real skulls. Human skulls. Flies buzz all about the gruesome spectacle like worshippers.
SPACE “This definitely is not good,” Alliandra is saying to the bard. She shakes her head negatively, even sadly.
SPACE “The hobyah are not normally very taken with religious ceremony,” Cyrdan says from behind her.
SPACE “This shrine says otherwise,” Alliandra replies. “See these skulls? Each has a design etched into the back of it.” She steps back away from the area, disgusted. “Trash it,” she says to Alasdair.

SPACE “Did you miss me, baby?” Cain says to the inanimate representation, stepping up to help in its destruction. He and Alasdair talk.

SPACE Alliandra and Cyrdan also carry on further conversation.
SPACE “While I don’t know what the symbols mean,” the cleric says to Cyrdan, “I know what they are used for.”
SPACE Cyrdan appears mildly confused, but he listens as Alliandra tells him of similar practices she has seen. The etchings are symbols of power. Some are for luck, some to ward off evil spirits. These, to the best of her limited knowledge on the subject, appear to be symbols of summoning. Of course, she can’t be sure.

SPACE Alasdair and Cain finish completely disrupting the shrine, helping one another topple the great statue with a mighty crash that sends several large birds in nearby trees to flight.

SPACE The group continues across the clearing, finally reaching the road to civilization.

SPACE Despite being on the road, the group is still in the middle of a jungle, and sticks close to one another. Cyrdan leads the way, bow drawn taut, with Alliandra behind him. Cain offers to scout ahead and disappears into the bush. Alasdair pulls a hand crossbow from his shirt and locks back its string with a small quarrel. Grant picks up a large tree limb on the way and holds it in front of him like a club. Garn stands beside him, shortsword in hand. Conner and Tharg bring up the rear, pushing and shoving one another in a mock fight the whole way.

SPACE “How far?” Alliandra asks the elven archer.
SPACE “Not far. Not even two clicks,” he answers. “We should make it to Deepbush by nightfall.”
SPACE With that, the group sets off down the road to the north.