The duke and his men pay you a fond farewell and Raus's newtlings pilot you through the bog to within a half-day's journey from Five Eyes Rise, then depart and leave you with two coracles as gifts from them to help your journey. They spot 5 eyes newtling spies along the way but you have no troubles or major warning signs from them. The Raus newtlings bless you and the coracles and leave wishing you luck, with long meaningful stares that suggest that they are afraid for you, or respect you, or think you're crazy, or maybe all of the above.
You boat down this sluggish bracken stretch of the Zola Fel enduring more buzzing insects, treacherous mudflats, and hot Earth season sun. Otters play along the shores here and there, chittering playfull at you, and fish leap after the insects that annoy you. As you come within distant sight of Five Eyes rise, you are paddling through a soupy saltmarsh and enter a canal blossoming with lily pads and gorgeous river flowers of many colors. Then the marsh opens up and you see the shore of the 5 Eyes village, with a swath of bright white lilies decorating the water from you to the wooden pier. Newtlings in war mud "paint" and gear stand silently at attention along the shore, and among them you can see BVoN towering, striding through them to the pier to meet you, and Ruupak the great magisaur river priest poking his head out of the water near the pier. A strong current, probably an undine, picks you up and pushes you smoothly to the pier, where Ruupak secures your coracles and BVoN helps you up onto the pier.
BVoN: "Welcome River Voices Caernak and Arcus to Five Eyes domain again. The One rests far north with your kind at Wyrmsjaw; we have just returned from a mighty battle there where we slew many Lunars and won glorious trophies for the Five Eyes warriors."
A tattooed newtling steps forward from the crowd, which parts smoothly to let him pass. It is an old bachelor newtling with many scars and an odd white tail. You have not seen this one before, but judging from the headress of reeds and mud that he wears, and his trident garnished with human bones and fetishes, that this is a powerful shaman of the 5 Eyes. It speaks in Boatspeech:
"Caernak Cracked-Mud-Face, Arcus of the Tail-Eaters, we know from whence you come. You come from hated Raus man and his meek newtlings that cower in the security of his shadow. Whitetail knows you seek peace, that is why you come. You come to speak of Harmony and the Left Hand of Reconciliation." The gathered band of 5 eyes warriors draws closer; some wade into the water. A brief moment of tense silence, then:
"Whitetail sees you come with maimed members, lost in battle with chaos. Whitetail knows the story of the fetid island and the gorp-god. You understand. That is why you come now with peace offerings, Whitetail thinks. Because you understand us."
BVoN: "The warriors praise you for your valiant struggles against evil on our river. They have built mud and reed effigies of the River Voices in the village square and want to show you these tonight at a feast in your honor. But your wounds need tending. The newtlings are honored that you come here wounded, it is a powerful gesture to them. You feel their suffering, how they have lost tails and other parts to men. It is a wise move."
Whitetail gestures with his trident and the whole crowd of newtlings drops to a bow with great flourish all at once.
BVoN: "The newtlings do not often allow humans to bathe in their healing mudpools, but they choose to make an exception here. It will soothe you, but I am sorry to say that you must remain blindfolded." BVoN holds up two white sashes to you as the newtlings remain bowed, and you get the hint that you are expected to speak.
[FYI, you're not sure what's going on here. They seem to think that you came here with still-wounded limbs as show of sympathy for the suffering the newtlings have endured! And oddly they do not seem very angry about your Raus visit, although Whitetail made some early jabs about it. Now they seem to want to give the two of you baths in some of their sacred pools before a big feast tonight in your honor. Is there still hope for these newtlings, or is it a trap?]