We were facing more than a dozen red men, both shamen and brutes, but now was the time of their humongous serpentine overlord. The slithering colossus reared, and, emitting a deafening hiss, scanned the surroundings with its transfixing gaze. As it peered mesmerisingly at the diminutive combatants below, the movement in the clearing all but subsided.
With but a glance, the Serpent beckoned, and its worshippers seemed to comply, as they slowly turned towards the pool and prostrated themselves before their god. It seemed like magic was at work here, intensifying the hypnotic power of the Serpent's gaze. And then, with a fluid motion it snatched one of the kneeling ugoks with its maw, effortlessly swallowing him in but a heartbeat. And then another. And yet another.
At this point we realised that Master Krastus had commenced wandering towards the pool rather carelessly. Suspecting he might also have been enspelled by the beast, we sprung into action, trying to hinder our companion by whatever means we could devise. Sira and Carlton charged ahead, trying to topple him over, while I threw a piece of rope over one of his pincers and, together with the Captain, started tugging. Alas, our Mage was rather unaffected by our efforts at first, and continued to advance, until Carlton managed to throw a blanket over his eyestalks. This appeared to restore his lucidity, and he was eager to leave.
And so were we, when we realised the Serpent had by now consumed every single of the congregated red men, a row of bulges along its gigantic body forming a fleeting memento. Whether they had rued their submission at the very end, there was no telling now, but their fate was certainly sealed either way. Ours, in turn, was still undecided, as the still voracious Serpent turned its attention towards us. Carlton fired a shot from his prized musket, and struck the colossus square in the open maw, providing us with precious moments as we dispersed.
Out of the corner of the eye, we saw Mistress Equias, who had apparently pinched open her cage, rush out and escape. The beast, meanwhile, regained its bearings and slithered forth at an alarming speed, far outpacing the wounded Captain, who barely evaded its charge and was now at its mercy. From afar, I threw a charm of stunning against the beast, and what had already worked against the huge ape in our first adventure, had a profound effect on the Serpent as well. It staggered back confusedly, then coiled up and appeared to fall into a digestive slumber.
After a moment of catching breath, we snuck over to the other cages, liberated our other missing crewmembers, who fortuitously were all unharmed, and left the Serpent and the awful place behind. Our hired guide was nowhere to be found, she had probably left at the prospects of combat, an understandable sentiment.
After gaining some distance, we took a short rest to tend to wounds suffered, and then decided to make our way back to Shark Bay. The surroundings were confusing and visibility was poor, and in the evening we occasionally heard the sounds of horns and drums from several directions, as if communicating. News were spreading around among the remaining tribes, and we would need to be especially watchful.
When the sun set, we found a spot to rest, a small depression in the ground, with some trees and standing stones nearby. We set up a camp with a small fire, and I volunteered for a watch. And so I sat together with Mongrel, near a small tree overviewing the campsite. I was in quiet conversation with the curious kehana when I spotted a dark shape moving inbetween the rocks closeby. I could make out a single ugok, with spear in hand, possibly a scout, and he had obviously located our camp. Also, there was possible movement on the other side of the camp, leaving us surrounded. I sent Mongrel to fetch reinforcements, and he woke up Miguel, who covered the far side.
Expecting a large assault when he would relate that information to his tribesmen, I found it best to try to capture the scout, and so we agreed that I would stun him with a spell while Mongrel would rush over and subdue him. I threw the spell and quickly had to realise that this was no lone scout, but just one of an assault group hidden among the rocks. Seeing the approaching Mongrel outnumbered, I started to shout alarums, and one by one, our crew rose from their sleep. The attackers, undone, resorted to storming our camp, and soon, a vicious fight erupted, with kehana and doreen fighting side-by-side against the attackers. Again, we faced more than a dozen opponents, and the battle was fierce, and both Wim and Miguel were felled by the beasts until we had a defensive line formed.
It turned out, though, that there were indeed attackers on the other side, who started shooting arrows at us from higher ground. Sira was gravely injured by a hit to the abdomen, and while trying to retaliate, the barrel of Carlton's prized musket, Grandpa, failed and burst apart in a fiery blast, sending shreds of hot metal into our group. Carlton was plunged into deep distress by this, but the scurillians were undeterred and, once we had overcome the main assault, charged at the archers and quickly brought them down.
The night had fallen silent once more, save for the moans of the many wounded. With concerted effort, we were able to save most of them, but our comrade Wim, sadly, did not live to see the morning. After honouring him with a burial, we wearily continued on our way towards the bay, and reached the settlement without further incident. Former Captain Selene greeted the still distraught Carlton from afar, but real consolation came to him only when Sira promised to see to it that Grandpa was given a new prosthetic barrel. The sadness over Wim's death, however, could not be wiped away that easily.
Avoiding contact with the locals, we headed to our ship and spent the following few days aboard, tending to our wounds and recuperating. We would need to get back to good shape before we could plan our next steps.
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