Morning deliberations

Waking up you find yourself fairly tangled in the limbs of all the girls. You debate trying to slip back to sleep since it appears the sun only recently came up, but the rest of the group wakes up just after you and they all start to get up to get dressed for the day. Annabel gives your cheek a kiss before stepping out of the tent you assume to go prepare a breakfast, which reminds you that at some point you are going to need to figure out how to get a food supply of some sort. Which reminds you that you'll have to figure out how to store the food, and a cascade of things you know you'll have to eventually deal with rolls through your head. You turn to see Yvette sitting next to you and just watching you.

"What's the plan for the day" she asks.

"Well we'll have to spend a little time looking for what we came to this bluff for, and I was wanting to gather some seeds and herbs, and at some point I wanted to get to the forest and at least get some firewood, and I was hoping we could kind of keep our eyes open for what sort of game animals are around, and" you reply starting to list off what's floating around in your head. You stop when you see Yvette chuckling.

"What's so funny" you ask.

"Do you think we'll be able to accomplish everything in one day" she replies in an almost sarcastic manner. You chuckle understanding her point.

"Look, start with the basics and work from there. We need shelter, water, fire, and food" she says listing things off and holding up a finger for each one.

"We have shelter, we have access to water, we have access to fire, and for now we have about a month of food" she says removing a finger for each one. "So what should be our priority" she asks you seriously.

"Well water and fire we are not going to have an issue with any time soon. Shelter is taken care of, but ultimately it is just a tent so we'll need to set up something more permanent soon, but our biggest concern right now is food. We may have a month's worth, maybe more if we ration properly, but it will run out. So we're going to need to get an immediate source, and hopefully set up a source for repeated cultivation" you respond.

"Very good. So let's prioritize our sources of food, while also working towards a permanent shelter for whatever weather events happen here in the south. I don't know specifically what the weather is like here, but I've heard it is mostly warm weather making this territory possibly good for farming year round" she says.

"So what is keeping people from coming down this far south is something that weighs on my mind a little bit...more than a little bit really" you respond.

"I can maybe answer that" Rene pops her head into the tent. You both turn to look at her waiting for her to explain.

"Um...a lot of my customers were fairly well connected and rich, and they would often have people over to discuss their business. Sometimes they would talk about the southern region we are currently in. From what I remember there are likely several continents even farther south of us filled with various races and groups, and they often attempt to colonize the southern region here. Often enough they are not numerous enough to push farther north, and just as often seem to be replaced when a new incursion force lands in the south. The lizard people somewhere south of us are just the latest one. Having so many incursions down here makes them wary of attempting to try building here is the gist of it" she says stepping inside the tent and sitting next to you.

"Hmmmm" you hum as you think about it. "It makes sense. They have a lot to lose if it failed. Further it is unlikely just one investor could get enough resources to accomplish it, so anyone who wanted to try would need to get multiple investors in the project, and that probably isn't easy to do if there is a risk of losing everything you have in the process" you reason.

"That puts us in a tough spot though" Yvette says.

"Maybe. I wonder if any of them have thought about forming an alliance with any of the incursions" you ask aloud.

"You think it is possible to be friendly with the lizard people" Rene asks clearly doubtful.

"It's a possibility. They may be looking for more land to take over or possibly it's a group trying to escape and survive on their own, but either way an alliance might benefit them. It's at least food for thought" you reply.

"An alliance would be a lot easier if we had something to offer them" Yvette stated. You both nodded your heads in agreement.

"You guys having a secret meeting in here or something" Jane says poking her head into the tent followed soon by Annabel's head over hers. You can tell she is joking and not mad so you smile and wave them in.

"Kinda, it didn't start that way at least and we weren't trying to leave you out of it. We're just talking about what to do today and things. Basically the plan today is two fold. We're going to search for treasure for a bit, and then we're going to look around for sources of food. Then past that we were discussing maybe the possibility of an alliance with the lizard people we assume are farther south, but we aren't fully sure how feasible that is if we can't offer them anything. Possibly we can at least negotiate we at least be peaceful with each other if we can't set up a better agreement" you explain.

"Assuming they aren't immediately hostile to us" Annabel says raising her eyebrow up.

"Right...assuming they don't try to kill us immediately" you agree with a sigh.

"So avoid them if we can for now" Jane asks.

"Yah, for now we'll work on avoiding them until we can't" you reply.

"In the meantime, Annabel, if you could keep your eye out for herbs and other things we might be able to grow ourselves for food and potions we'd appreciate it. You probably have the keenest eye for such things" you tell her.

"I have already noticed several plants we can use for that, and I've made a porridge for breakfast that should be ready by now" Annabel replies.

The group stands up and ushers out of the tent to the pleasant smell of Annabel's porridge. Each of you grab a bowl and chow down as you look towards the bluff. You can only hope it has something worthwhile inside to make it worth the trip.