C1E20: Of Frogs and Family
While Khoraka lingers in the jungle, the FGC hire a "guide" and make their way to and from Blustering Bay, with a few unpleasant surprises.
The FGC is hauled up into the trees by a dark, short-furred, and well-muscled tabaxi who introduces himself as Dart. Before they rise into the air, Khoraka hesitates. He feels compelled to explore the environs of the jungle a bit deeper. He and Manu take their leave and fade into the verdant distance, leaving Manu's boat tied up at the "dock" for Raska's Edge.
High above, the settlement is made up of expansive tree houses, connected by suspension bridges. Fires are banked under stones or within lanterns to control the risk of a flare up.
The settlement of Raska's Edge.Dart takes them to an inn and tavern called Timber's Call, where Snow, Erash, and Ferric enjoy a large dinner under the stars. In talking to the locals, they learn there's been discussion of whether or not to send aid to the southern tabaxi tribes nearer the mountains, who are dealing with incursions of Yuan-Ti, long thought absent from the area. They are abducting hostages and waylaying hunting and gathering parties. While the tabaxi are typically insular to their own tribes, the idea that this activity could spread has the elders troubled. And there's widespread disagreement about whether to go on the offensive.
At the inn they meet a young, cheerful teenage girl named Amber who has a gift for gossip and the heart of an adventurer. Knowing she may need a little push to get started, Snow hires her to be their "guide" to Blustering Bay. After Amber negotiates away half her salary to get her older brother Dart to cover for her, they agree to set out the next day.
The party travels over land, Snow and Amber chatting cheerfully as they go. Amber gives her a bit of gossip about Manu, who is well known in these parts – they say he never ages. His grandmother claims he looks exactly the same as he did when she was a girl, and her grandmother must be 100 by now.
They make camp overnight, with Ferric's Camper's Respite nestling itself into the vines and mulch that make up the jungle floor.
During Ferric's watch he notices about six figures on the periphery of the firelight. A party of Grung [https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/17263-grung-elite-warrior] slavers leap into view, and a fight ensues. Amber and Planksnapper look on from inside the tent, awestruck.
Grung!Despite their poisonous skin and marksmanship, the FGC took ALL SIX OF THEM OUT (I should have used eight) before finishing their night's rest.
The next day brings them to the lift system beneath Blustering Bay. The FGC make their way upward, and Amber brings them to the home of Echo's family. Amber and Ken (Echo's little sister) scamper off to gossip about Nicondranian fashion while Snow delivers Echo's package, which contains 200 GP, some pressed autumnal leaves for Ken, and an amulet of a jade kitten in a gold setting.
After some conversation, Crys (Echo's mother) offers the amulet to Snow, who takes it, touched. They leave before the end of the day, amidst assurances from Amber that she'll be able to get home fine from here on her own.
Snow, Erash, and Ferric emerge from the canopy of Quoraska and into the welcome open air of the road to Nicodranas.
That is, until they come to the unsettling realization that the extensive debris that is shattered and tossed along the side of the road, not very far back up towards the Wyun Gorge, is in fact what remains of their carriages...