Yesterday we met for a nice long gaming session (~9hrs!) and got lots done. You tried to negotiate with the water wyrms but they professed a hatred and distrust of humans and didn't want to deal; just wanted to be left alone. You went further southeast on the river and found an island of glittering sand with a golden boulder in the center (set with an odd grey metal spike) and ringed by 3 big (SIZ 35) stone crabs. The island seemed hot; steam came from waters around it. No clear sense of chaos or other evil. Hmm... Barely restraining your curiosity, you went further south and found the festering island that the water wyrms spoke of. A dozen wild broo came out of a cave and chased you, but got massacred by missiles, spells, and a flurry of weapons. In the polluted lagoon was a sneaky tentacled thing that tried to grab you, but was salted by Caernak and slain by Pachala + others. Easy battles. Geysers on the island would erupt small gorp that you killed fairly easily, and you were intrigued by crystals down near the bottoms of the geysers, but the nasty sucking mud around them frustrated your efforts (Pachala and Caernak came close to suffocating in it). You found some diseased junk in the broo cave and decided to leave, returning to Corflu after Caernak messed up his attempt to sanctify the newtling village shrine.
Back in Corflu, Caernak divined to Zola Fel about how to destroy the chaos menace at Festering Island. Zola Fel replied, "Next holy day the door will open", signifying that a heroquest path (probably minor) would allow you to destroy the chaos for good. Others trained while Caernak prayed for another divination, asking what the crab isle was all about, and receiving the answer "Generals of storm and sky wrestled there." Seems that there was a minor confrontation on this isle. When asked about the crabs, Caernak only received murky incoherent visions. Arcus and Tarranyr headed back north, and did a minor service as River Voices along the way. People at Lokazzi asked them to investigate duck bandits in the South Bog who had been raiding passersby in the night. Newtling guides took them to the ruin area where the ducks were thought to hide out. Five Eyes newtling ambushed them briefly, and a wraith in an old ruin assaulted them, but they passed on undaunted. Both Arcus and Tarranyr showed wariness of the quicksands of the swamps. A low flooded knoll was the duck hideout, and they seem to have been alerted. They ambushed the two as they entered the knoll via water, but were hacked down all to easily and surrendered, leaving some of their ill-gotten goods and fleeing into the swamps vowing not to trouble the riverfolk again. Arcus went home for his holy day, spoke to a cousin who was uncertain about the meaning of the gold boulder, and came back to Corflu. Tarranyr remained in Pavis.
Back in Corflu, everyone but Tarranyr went back to the southeast river delta to investigate the crab island again. Newtling ghosts at the spiders' stonespire island attacked them but were dispelled easily. You magicked up and Dorgon, Arcus, and Pachala lept onto the shore of the island, after you ascertained that the sands were dangerous (odd magical disruption when they neared human flesh; 1 pt/round). Shield 2 seemed to insulate from the sands. The crabs, of course, animated when Pachala lept onto the boulder and grabbed the metal spike. After the GM rolled 5 specials and 4 criticals (scary rolling trend!), Pachala lay dead, Ssrussut was badly wounded, and Arcus was in deep doo-doo too. Caernak swifltly carried Pachala's body back to the boat during a diversion, and the crabs would not follow you into the water. You made it safely onto the boat and returned to Corflu quickly. Caernak had no trouble convincing Sa'ar to call a river horse to carry the group back to Waterby Grotto near Pavis, and you healed Pachala's body + carried it to the River Barge, where Sa'ar resurrected Pachala with the ZF/Chalana Arroy medicine bundle (only time this year). Unfortunately, a day had passed and Pachala's body had withered down to STR 12, CON 7, DEX 6, APP 6.