Ok, so, now I don’t know if I should be overjoyed or even more terrified than I was before.
Just like last time, it took 3 days in the canoe to get here. I was a bit worried about finding the exact spot, seeing as I had run off in a panic before.
Turns out that wasn’t a problem. I couldn’t have missed it, because all my stuff was here. Still here, and…tended to. My pontoon had been dragged up onto the little bit of dry ground where I’d made camp. It was tied and staked down so the water didn’t carry it off. My pack was sitting in the boat. On inspection, I could tell it had been unpacked, and then very carefully re-packed. Things weren’t put away exactly like I would have, but it was done neatly and with obvious forethought. It was just different enough that I can’t call it simple mimicry. The tent had been put away incorrectly, but still carefully. And if that weren’t enough, the area had been marked. The boat was surrounded by 8 stakes sunk into the ground, each one just under 2 meters high. Not sure yet what they’re made of. Hanging from the top of each was a small bundle of what looked like various small fungi wrapped in leathery chords.
And they stank. The mushrooms bundles I mean. I know I should be more objective and say they were “fragrant” or maybe had an “unpleasant aroma,” but they stank. Horribly. The stakes had also been topped with a gooey blob of the juice from a torchplant. The glow had faded to nothing, so this was all done not too long after my first encounter. Here’s a sketch of the top of one of the stakes.
Whatever it was, it had looked through my stuff then made sure all of it was left safely here. Now the question is, was it left here so I could find it again and reclaim it, or was it put here and surrounded by stakes that marked it as dangerous or evil or something? Courtesy? Offering? Warning? Trap?
I have a lot of work ahead of me.