Storm Island Expedition

David and the Djinn

When the octet reached across the river past the point where it divided the mountains and rivers, they finally had to decide how to proceed. Traveling together through the western marshes as such a large group made bypassing any dense vegetation or mud holes a cinch.  After nearly a week of slow progress, then having to pass over the river rapids, they had started to get on each others nerves.
David was the first to speak up, wanting to head northwest, passing along the mountain edge and head to the northern coast.  Unlike most of this group, he was the most experienced overall.  Mastering not just every known form of combat, but almost every skill too.  He once joked that he could bare-hand catch a pair of sharks, cook them without fail, and gulp them down in a single bite before their tails had stopped wriggling.  For a man who, seemed to have a preference for the color blue and liked to pass himself as some sort of 'enigmatic fellow', he was quite friendly.
Eric was probably the polar opposite of David.  He had only managed to get into the Legend's Guild via connections, favors, and probably getting the easiest possible assignment from the Guild.  Had Radimus been in that day when Eric applied, a more challenging task would have been assigned.  (A few rumors even circled that Eric had paid someone to do most of the dangerous work and let him take the credit, but nothing could be proved.)  The young man was smart enough to travel in a group to reduce his own workload.
Now that everyone was splitting up, he tried to tag along with David, but the more seasoned adventurer wanted nothing to do with the fake adventurer. "You can go any way you want, except with me."
Eric did pick a northwesterly route too, just far enough from David that they weren't going exactly along the same path.

David got a head start from the rest while they bickered who would go where. Eric had overslept, and had fallen nearly a day behind him

David would be among those who claimed to come out more for the thrill and the action than for fame or fortune.   But with all the time he had spent so far, he was hoping for 'something' to show for the trip.

David's first few days into the forest were quite pleasant.  The walk reminded him of stretches of Tirrawan.  A few birds chirping about.  Several colorful butterflies that he normally would not have bothered with, but after trying to catch one barehanded, it managed to elude him.  It took him a number of tries to successfully catch it.  The little creature seemed to glow in his hands before he released it.  Something magical about this one must have made it difficult even for a master agile hunter to grab a hold of it.
There was even a large population of a new type of kebbit about.  After snaring several, he was disappointed in the meat.  It was one of the fouler tasting foods he had ever tried; it might have been better used as compost.  The fur on the other hand was extremely soft.  He managed to grab a few extra pelts to save for later, where they could be worked properly into some new pillows for his house. Looking about, he didn't see any predators around, which probably explained why the kebbit population was so big.

Another week of trekking, and he managed to come across a small campsite setup by Eric.  He could tell, because Eric was asleep in the middle of the afternoon by the fire.
"Good Guthix, what are you doing here?" David inquired.
Eric was startled awake. "I made camp.  What are you doing here?"
"I told you I was going this way. You just had to follow?"
"Followed?  I got here before you did."

Disgusted, David walked right up the so called adventurer's pack and yanked out Eric's journal, then his own.  The path Eric had taken was just barely close enough to David's that Eric could have probably seen him with a looking glass.  Flipping through the pages, Eric simply whined about running out of food, how he couldn't catch anything, how he was starving, and so on.  There wasn't much information that would even be considered 'useful' about the trek.
Eric started to call out weakly "Please ... David ... food ... "
Smiling, David pulled out some kebbit meat, and started to roast it on the fire.  When it was ready, he handed it to Eric.
After one bite "This is horrible! How do you expect me to ... "
"Beggars can't be choosers."
With the look in David's face, Eric knew not to say another word.  He simply ate the rest of the kebbit meat, trying not to gag.  When finished, he went back to sleep.
David took the opportunity to rest as well since it was sunset.

The next morning, Eric seemed well recovered and ready to start up again.
"So, where shall we head to next David?"
"We?"
"Yes, of course.  We've managed to luck into each other.  Wouldn't it be better to finish the rest of this leg of the exploration together?"
"Sure."  David started to point northerly, "I'll go this way."  Then he pointed southerly "and you can go that way."
"You've always been quite the joker David.  But seriously ... "
"I am being serious."
Eric was a little despondent until he looked northwest to the nearby mountains.  "Well look at that!" as he pointed.  "I do believe there is some sort of temple or pyramid over there."
David took one glance "It's a ziggurat."
"A what'sit?"
"A ziggurat. It's like a pyramid, just a different architecture."
Though confused as ever, Eric plied on "Well, perhaps we should explore it together?"