'The Hogue' - Arrival Sentinel Island - Nicolaus Cagliostro

Nicolaus took to the rail to watch the island slowly appear from the mist. A heavy fog enshrouded water at the rocky shoreline of Sentinel Island obscuring any details of the deeper terrain. Jagged corals in the surrounding waters teemed with life. As they slowly pierced the fog along the island's coastal cliffs he could see the remains of a ship, run aground. Obviously a relatively recent wreck the canvas sails were torn, but still attached... to a degree; and the ship had not yet collapsed under the attack of worms and the tides. Wood immersed in seawater for any time was quickly destroyed by shipworms and small wood-boring sea creatures. The wreck was broken and the loads were not what they were designed to support, the poorly supported hull sides would give way fairly soon and the wreckage collapse further sped up by the incessant waves; wrecks supported so by a rocky seabed tended to collapse over and around the rocks relatively rapidly. A hammer and an anvil.

Squinting Nicolaus noticed outer hull has ominous damage fire marks, Alchemist fire? Or something else? It had been some form of attack, not a attempt to destroy the wreckage, which given the dampness would be impossible.

Nicolaus heard Greyriver addressing the group and turned away from the mystery on shore, they would know more soon enough. He listened thoughtfully to her address. A grim and scarred man called Tarmen also spoke and suggested he scout the area ahead of making a camp to get the lay of the land. He also suggested another equally large man to join him and lay traps to prepare a line of retreat to lead a purser into if they were chased back to the ship. Nicolaus could appreciate the idea to slow or eliminate a threat and to lay a planned escape route the group would weave through to ensnare a enemy. This seemed a very wise course. When the discussion broke up he then approached Alexis Greyriver for her offered education on hand signals. Perhaps they were different from the ones he had seen or read of? After a brief instruction he headed below to unpack his crate of supplies for the expedition.

As the ship's boat ferried them and their supplies ashore, Nicolaus got his first look at the interior of the island. Sand marred only by a occasional scrap of driftwood or rock outcrop, glistened whitely; likely pulverized pieces of dead coral he surmised. The thick jungle line begins about 11 meters from the shore and grows dense and tangled with hanging vines, heavy roots, and creeper covered trees that choked the sunlight; It looked endless and oppressive. The humidity feels like moving through thin broth, and within a short time of walking into the jungle edge, sweat and moisture begins to wet his hair and run down his back. The jungle floor was soft, like a wet sponge over earth, rock, and soft rotting vegetation. A steady a cacophony of insect and creature sounds, echoed in the air, not quite drowning out the sounds of a distant waterfall or river. Nicolaus remembered his last foray into such a place; he hadn't been dry for weeks. He sighed.