Ipanema

A beautiful island of sandy beaches, an azure sea, and a jungle full of tropical plants and animals, on a world somewhere within the planes.

Event

Our friends wake up on a beach, washed ashore, their bodies quite the worse for wear, having only just survived their fall into the sea. As they get their bearings they notice that they are completely naked; all their clothes are gone and none of their belongings seem to have made the journey, or have washed up on shore. Maybe even more concerning is that the clerics no longer feel any connection to their gods, nor does Harpin feel his special connection, all have them have lost access to their powers, though they can still cast the spells they prepared before coming here.

Our friends look around the beach and at the jungle behind them, two large mountains can be seen in the distance. As the party discusses their next move there is sound from the underbrush and suddenly two human girls appear, their skin an olive color. Both are naked as well, though they do wear a sort of leather belt that hold a piece of sharpened flint and some other things. They look to be anywhere between mid-teens and mid-twenties. From the way they stare and giggle at Cassandra, Harpin, and Regius it seems they might never have seen anyone who isn't a human. Harpin gets very shy and tries to hide behind the others.

Unfortunately they speak a language that none of our friends speak but they manage to introduce themselves as Astrud and Ive. They gesture the party to follow them and our friends do so. They walk through the jungle and on their trek Harpin finds a leaf to wear around his waist and a nice walking stick, Reb also picks up a sturdy branch to use as a weapon.

After about an hour they exit the jungle on the other side and the party is greeted with a view of a beautiful lagoon and a small village built next to it. As they enter the village there's a lot of excitement, the people here clearly know only humans. It's hard to miss the fact that everyone here is naked, and all of them only have hair on their head, there's not hairs anywhere else on their body. The villagers seem quite friendly though and the party is seated and provided with something to drink and some snacks.

With no common language it's hard to communicate but both parties try their best and slowly learn a little more. Regius casts a light spell and it seems that magic is a foreign concept to these people. "Ulaa," the cleric proclaims proudly, which the villagers now think is the word for magic. Our friends try to explore a little and learn more, fearing things might not be as safe as they seem. Curious villagers follow them everywhere though.

In the evening a feast is held in honor of the visitors. Before the meal everyone seems to pray to someone called Kotakawana, as they do they look either at parts of the jungle or at the few pregnant women in the village. The food is plentiful and diverse, including pineapple, coconut, different species of fish, guinea pigs, and an an animal the size of a pony called a capivara. The food for our friends and a few of the villagers, including, Vitoria who seems to be in charge, is served on golden plates. When asked it turns out this is the only metal these people have.

Cassandra moves away a little after dinner and uses a spell to create some noise within the jungle. This is heard by a few people but there is nothing of a panic or anything of that nature. A few villagers grab spears and happily go check out the source of the sounds, clearly hoping to find an animal to add to the larder. It seems there are no predators on this island or the response would have been different.

When the evening ends many of the villagers pair off in twos and enter the huts. Numerous people come to our friends and invite them to join the night with them. Regius is the only one to accept an offer and he goes into one of the dwellings with his partner. Once there they rub some paste into two little balls, they eat one and offer the other to the half-orc. What follows is an interesting night where the cleric learns many new things.

Village Life

At dawn the next morning Reb joins the villagers who are about to go catch fish. Large bonfires are lit at the shore and a number of people wade into the sea and spear the fish who swim close. There are five small boats, each with an outrigger on the starboard side. Two villagers go in each boat and they go out but stay within ten meters or so from the shore. Reb invites himself onto one of the boats and learns to spear fish from it. When he asks if they go further out the fisherman shakes his head and exclaims: "tubarão, enorme e colossal!" He mimics huge jaws and a fin, there's likely some kind of shark or other huge predator out there.

Over the next week or so our friends enjoy life in the village; they have even been given their own hut to stay in, clearly the people here expect them to stay. Harpin spends much of his time with the village children, they are more his height, and learns many things. The others join the villagers at their tasks or just laze around the village, just like many of the locals. Life here is very relaxing. Maybe it's all the rest they are getting, maybe it's something in the air, whatever the case, our friends all find that their worst ability is no longer as bad as it was.

For the first few days they are invited by villagers to spend the night but after refusing for a few nights in a row, this ends. Regius does accept an invitation every night. While life here is quite good our friends don't want to spend the rest of their lives here and want to find their way home. They have learned that about sixty or seventy years ago another stranger came to the village; an old man still remembers him. The villagers call him "como um malva", they show our friends a small purple flower which they say is "malva".

According to the old man the stranger left to go to Corcovado, a volcano that is just about visible on the horizon, he was then never seen again. When our friends asked about the golden plates, they were told that this stranger went with some villagers to the two mountains, called Dois Irmãos, "two brothers", and they brought the gold back with them. Harpin suggests they go to the mountains first, before trying to reach the volcano across the sea.

A number of villagers are happy to join them and their journey is a pleasant one, reaching the mountains after six days. As they go up the mountain a little they are rewarded with a view across a large part of the island. They can now also see another island on the opposite side, the villagers tell them they call it the island of great snakes.

Our friends are very lucky and find traces of the expedition from all those years ago; a grave made of stacked stones. In the small stream next to it they can still see a tiny bit of gold, if that's what it is, in the bedding, it must be here the gold was taken from. There is nothing else to be found so after a day of exploring the group returns to the village.

Now the party starts to plan on how to get across the sea to the volcano without being eaten by the tubarão. When they ask the old man, he remembers that the stranger built two boats, a large one and a small one. Apparently the large one was to hold off the creature while "como um malva" would then escape in the small one.

Shark to Meet You

Our friends decide to build a large raft and put a live capivara on it, and use it and blood to draw in the shark and hopefully distract him long enough so they can get to the island in two boats. Construction is started on not just the raft but also two boats; the villagers can't just lose two boats. Fortunately the people are happy to help with the building so eventually three sea worthy vessels are ready.

There's a tearful goodbye and then our friends set off for Corcovado. It doesn't take all that long or the tubarão shows up. First it's just a huge fin sticking out of the waves. Our friends quickly poor blood in the water, the capivara ready to be sacrificed. The fin disappears and then suddenly an enormous shark breaks through the surface, it's huge jaws open and it bites the raft and the hapless creature on it, in two. Maybe it took more than it could chew, it's definitely having some trouble, giving the party the perfect chance to get away.

They make it to the volcano island minutes before the fin of the tubarão appears in the waves. Corcovado is a much smaller island, really just a volcano sticking up out of the sea. When night falls our friends see a blueish light on the side of the volcano. When they make their way there the next day, they find a small cave. Inside is a portal of cobalt blue energy at the far end. There's also a rudimentary table, chair, and cot, but no personal belongings.

There is little reason to do anything else so the party steps through and ends up in the Portal Hub.