Wehilani managed to observe what we might call a great mobilization. Several war parties all gathered at the demon clan’s village, including Kinich and his band of gnolls. More than we had realized to be roped into his efforts. It seems he was not the only recruiter they had. They have the remains of the orcs, some clan of gnolls, the demon clan, and some figures I don’t even recognize. Thankfully, Coszacatl and Zeltzin were sent to their camp at quite a convenient time in order for us to gather more information. Apparently the demon clan joining in with Kinich would be Coszacatl’s doing, through her they seemed to find some inspiration to help Kinich with his plan. The confirmed that they are intending to attack the Chanai. While they did not divulge all of their strategies to Zeltzin, they told her that much at least. Though we have found more forces at work here than we initially thought, more on that in a moment.

A scout party of Chanai flyers arrived here on Auwana, only to discover where the missing clans went. It is…extremely convenient that the Huanacan built in the woods far off from the main village. Also that Kennae is away on mission and Iiniwa is level headed enough to stay out of sight during their visit.

They had a proposal. In exchange for some bushes from our forest, a hundred measures of food, and a non aggression pact they will agree to leave us alone on our island since it will soon be sailing west anyways and no longer be their problem.

However, not too long afterwards we had a rare visitor. An elf. Conveniently Avonaco is in the field. This is clearly no average elf, they are the one behind the mobilization of Kinich and the demons. I suppose the elves have always had a talent for charisma. They want us to join the attack on the Chanai to help bolster Kinich and his forces. Actually while they want troops and supplies overall, they very specifically wanted Alihana.

We are promised favorable relations with the elves in the western jungles that our island will soon be passing over for helping in this regard. Which could be useful in the future once we find ourselves in a strange and dangerous new land. Also that they will give us one of three things. We can take the Halik or the Witch Doctor clan with us. Their alliance and relocation to Chanai territory means they will have to be dismantled in the war effort. However, the alliance will let us take one of them to our island. Whether as captives or as allies is probably dependent on them as much as us. The third offer is all of Chanai’s flying mounts that can be recovered. Most notably, a druid is the one offering this so it is likely that once the Chanai domination is broken that such creatures will actually be rendered cooperative.

As a final element, I took a moment to take advantage of the druid and ask whats the deal with the spikier trees that ring the entire island that we were all trying to figure out awhile back. It was explained that trees with those needle leaves are particularly good at handling strong winds. They are absorbing a lot of the wind we receive up here in the sky and protecting the rest of the forest that relies on broader leaves by lessening the strength of the wind that might otherwise knock them over. So don’t cut them down.

I thought I should consult the rest of the chiefs before taking on either offer regarding this war down in the ashen plains. Though we are somewhat in the dark about both forces actual capability. As revealed, Kinich has more forces than we initially thought. Also no one has any real idea just how strong the Chanai actually are especially in their home territory.

 

Here I got you some honey now sit still already.

 

 

 

We set up some houses for the sake of the orcs once they arrive here on Auwana. We’ll see if they intend to remain their own clan or not once we can. I foresee they will want to for the sake of their own somewhat stubborn pride but it might incite some of the people if their chief held equal position to the current chiefs with how small their numbers are. So may want to prepare to deal with that argument.

So far building birdcages is easy, catching birds is a pain. We have a few though, they just squawk a lot so far.

As for Cosz, I suppose she can use any skeleton that walks on the ground. Due to her ooze she will be too heavy to be a bird or anything that flies. While she is in possession of a human skeleton right now, beyond hardening we’ve never actually done much with human bones before. To the surprise of many, we are not the cannibal tribe. Seriously people assume we are a lot.

Your face is painted with skeletal markings and I am wearing a skull for a helmet.

As for Coszacatl’s available bone options, it seems that it has to be a complete skeleton and somewhat fresh so that it still has the squishy bitz that holds the skeleton together. Since she is using it for structural support rather than just…to have bones. So WE CAN’T MIX AND MATCH.

I can always harden bone, so she doesn’t get slapped around by a crow so easily again. It seems that a wolf or any other four legged creature could make her faster but in shorter bursts. With such simple creatures I could try to find some way to let her SPRINT TO THE HORIZON!! She could deliver messages that way.

Though ACTUALLY ALIHANA, if I enchanted more birdy bones the way we made the basket maybe she could fly.

One simple idea is to maybe make something that keeps her warm and toasty. The forever fire faggots used the wyvern bones to produce a long lasting camp fire but I should be able to put a weaker version on her skeleton. This would help her stay active through the winter, as oozes freeze otherwise. So we won’t be seeing much of her during the cold times otherwise.

Monster bones would have the most extreme and varied effects though I’m not even sure what those will make given how rarely I get to work with such things. I do think that it is possible to give her something similar to what I’m wearing. I’m not sure how well shadow magic works for an ooze that light can shine through though, on the other hand it might be AWESOME.

To an extent we both know trying to catalog Sawiri is an exercise in madness. He rarely makes the exact same thing twice.  As for notable umbramancers…I mean you’re counting me right?

No you make fire, as I said before. Redundant.

This is why mom loved me more than you.

Dad didn’t even want a daughter though, much less you.

 

Shame he got sick and died though.

 

Yea…wait a minute…

 

Back to umbramancers. It is true that we can probably use Auwana’s shadow for something interesting. Using it for something like perception though has never really been before though I suppose I could take a look into the concept. We could make shadow puppets keep an eye out there but not sure how much that would help. Also moving between shadows is a concept that still eludes us.

Might be doable if we had more bones. Mine enhance the things umbramancy can do, which is why I’m all floaty floaty. Not sure where to find a skeleton attuned to shadows though.

Maybe in a cave or something. As for the green stones, I feel like the charm would just be a really heavy bone. At which point just a heavy rock, same way we make the basket work basically. I suppose we could try to make a bigger one, though the issue will always be that you need a way to get the basket down and up. So it would take a lot of weight just to send a green rock down, and given how much power those things have it would be difficult to control with just a really long rope.

I got nothing for this, me do bones no do rocks. You have bone, so sneeze ring wearable. Rock monster just have to go without sneezing.

If we ever did see a monster made of rock, I think sneezing is not really a priority for it.

Also we still have a few weeks before the orcs are ready to be picked up. If you head to the ground camp for that time you’ll probably need to appoint someone to keep things in order up here in case something comes up that needs a more immediate response. Please do not pick Sawiri.

Pick Sawiri.

 

Actually the lake would fill up fairly quickly if a dam was put at the end of the river that runs off the island. This is the secret to Ragash’s ponds as well and the constant existence of the swamp nearby. It might not fill all the way overnight or anything but its unlikely we would have much trouble with it unless we were to fly over a particularly dry region since the island’s water is coming from flying through clouds. The issue of draining and eating the lake is that there is solid rock underneath it that keeps the island afloat so water doesn’t naturally seep through and the river does not reach as deep as the lake’s lower areas where all the mucky stuff is. We began construction of said dam until Ragash pointed out that smaller ponds formed in the river itself that was cleaner for our use. Its just the central lake that has been allowed to stagnate that the issue exists within. In short the problem isn’t getting more water, its getting rid of the current water.

Our ambassadors managed to visit the demon village to catch them up on whats going on and whatever happened to Cosz. Zeltzin was a bit surprised to see so many of her own kind, and also to learn how much of her own abilities she never really knew about. Though given she has always been one of the tribe’s gatherers it makes sense she doesn’t know the full extent of what her race is known for.

Though when it comes to recruiting them it is notable their greatest practical reason to consider doing so is to skip the wars going on down below. Their reclusive nature seems to suit them to avoiding such conflict, but the war on the plains has become necessary for them to act upon before they find themselves in a bad position. As the Elder Chief pointed out, the elf wants us to help Kinich in the assault. Not to mention it would probably be nice to get back at those guys. But getting involved in such a situation could lead to the demons seeing less reason to join us as they would still have to fight that war instead of hiding on the island to get out of it, and after the fighting is over with unless they lose there won’t be much motive to vacate their now rather expansive territory for an uncertain feature flying among the clouds.

As for the basilisk den, tunneling into the mountain and a bit of the ground seems the most reasonable. Though the next challenge is getting the basilisk up here, as the basket is not going to particularly fit it I foresee.

Ragash and Avonaco wound up going to the same place as Coszacatl and Zeltzin down at the demon clan camp where Kinich seems to be gathering forces. For the most part the pair are hanging around the camp making people nervous.

 

In the meantime the travelers are hanging around the far side of the mountain waiting for any interesting storms to come by. Though it should be noted Sawiri might need to go there with them given his general preference for fresher bones.

As for winter, good question. That’s one for the chiefs.

Apparently in the winter Oozes tend to hang around fires and inside of caves.

In attempting to teach spells to anyone else, it might be worth an experiment to see if it can be taught. While there are some volunteers who would be interested, we don’t know if they can learn it. So that one will keep you busy for awhile, and it might be best to start with Alihana. If anyone can learn it, she would be the one.

Technically Wehilani and Kennae are already scouting from the air for anything to hunt, which keeps the ground camp supplied.

So in regards to the blood mage, first off there was only one. Not a group of them. The second complication is the witch doctors were pressured into allying with the Chanai and were moved into their territory a little while ago. That being said we at least know where the witch doctors are. This complicates things though because the Chanai territory is the hardest to do anything in thanks to their riders extending their control over the area so effectively. Given the recent diplomatic matters the chiefs have received, our plan to do so might be decided by what our plan of action is. Until we can interro- interview the witch doctors we won’t really know which team would be the best to figure out what became of the exile. Though who would be best for talking to the witch doctors would depend on the plan for reaching and then interacting with them.