Exploration of the island has been a very slow endeavor. While the tower provides such a convenient landmark to rally back to in order to find the moored airship, just exploring the area around the base of the "tower" is worthy of an expedition in and of itself. So far, not much is even known about the tower – It is fashioned of stone, yet it is not made of blocks. It is as if it were chiseled from solid stone. Attempts to explore its top have been thwarted by the odd winds buffeting the island. The winds have similarly thwarted taking advantage of flight to explore the rest of the island more quickly.

Thus, since bats are not the most hardy of creatures, and their wings are rather bulky, they haven't been the best at charting out the local region.

However, they are not the only ones interested in finding out more about the island – some way to get away from it, and perhaps some worthy find to justify coming here in the first place.

In the thick of the jungle, a lone fennec doctor can't appreciate the brightly-colored plumage of the Creens and exotic birds in the trees nearby, but he can appreciate their songs as fully as any Eeee could … and while he cannot take in the beauty of the flowering vegetation about him, none here can appreciate the rainbow of fragrances any better than he.

Roho wanders between the trees very slowly, not rushing, simply enjoying all the scents coming to him at once. From time to time, he pauses to give some plant or other a particularly close sniff, curious as to what it is, or merely enjoying a nice floral scent.

Something's faintly different about the surroundings as Roho continues. There are many more fallen pieces of wood … and then he notices that some of them may have once been cut to shape, though they have rotted out so badly since then that there's hardly any shape left to explore.

Roho prods curiously at the chunks of wood, feeling them collapse into the soil as he touches. He stands, trying to get his bearings, to figure out how far he's come.

The fennec's woodsy skills seem to have served him well on this island so far. He can be pretty sure of which way it is back to the ship, but, yes, he has gone off pretty far. No one has likely ventured into this particular spot yet, on the opposite side of the tower, approximately, from the ship.

Roho's ears stand up, as he listens to the woods for a moment. He bends down, and starts picking at the rotting wood, sniffing, trying to figure out what kind of wood it was, and more importantly, if it's a kind that he's smelled growing here.

The wood is of the same variety that grows in these parts. He also catches VERY faint traces of some wood treatment – which might suggest that this wood has been around for quite some time, though the years have not been kind.

Roho straightens up again, giving up on this particular hulk. He switches into a walk he uses for tracking, making ever-widening circles around the spot where the rotting wood was, looking for other signs of habitation.

As the fennec continues his exploration … his foot snags a vine stretched across the way. No … that's no vine! It's a taut cord!

*SNAP*

There's a whipping sound to the left, and another to the right. Two large somethings are converging quickly on this point.

Roho dives to the ground in as good a roll as he can!

Almost! But the fennec is struck in the shoulders, from the left and right by two very large logs … which are so rotted that they crumble into a spray of moldy splinters upon impact.

But still … that hurt.

Roho lands on the ground, his dashing roll gone belly-flop. He groans momentarily, rolling over, and clawing for something to grab to help himself sit up.

The most immediate thing to grab … is a wooden pole, which promptly breaks in Roho's grasp, betraying him in his attempt to get back up again.

For just an instant, Roho catches a faint scent in the air – a fear scent. Just as suddenly, it is gone.

Roho thumps back down on his back, with a squeak. He takes a quick breather, then gets to his feet the hard way. As he catches the scent of something living, he quickly goes into stalking mode, trying to blend with his surroundings, moving silently.

This time, the fennec encounters a barrier that has withstood age a little better … a pile of rocks that has been assembled into a low wall. It is, however, collapsed in many places, and a simple matter to either walk around or climb over.

Roho keeps low, and goes around the wall. On the other side, he crouches against it, ears perked and swiveling…

There it is – not a scent, but a sound of something moving through the woods, something man-sized, moving slowly away. By the sounds, it would seem that the something is trying to be stealthy as well, but is not accounting for ears like the fennec's.

Roho silently places the simple cloak he wears on the ground. He quickly smudges the light areas of his face with some dirt from the ground, a hasty job, but better than nothing. He crouches low, and starts the stalk, trying not to actually catch up with his visitor, just to stay with him at a constant distance.

The "visitor" keeps going. By the pace, it is likely the creature does not recognize the fennec's presence, for it has not broken into a run, or tried any particular evasive tactics, but is still being fairly stealthy either as a matter of course, or perhaps extra caution. By the scent of foliage that has been brushed past, the subject is feline, quite probably a humanoid, and not Savanite.

Roho keeps tracking. A large part of himself is saying that now would be a good time to go back and tell the others, but by the time he got to the ship, and organized a search party, the trail might be cold… especially with his quarry trying to stay unobserved as is.

As the pursuit continues, the fennec finds the vegetation to tangle a bit less … and he finds evidence of broken limbs and other signs that this area is more travelled than the vicinity of that trap he sprung. He also catches more scents … feline again. He catches no sound of any others' presence, but at some point, he may find himself outnumbered.

Roho stops directly tracking the feline, as a trail becomes evident. He pauses for a few moments, listening sharply and sniffing. Then he starts to circle around…

Now his ears begin to pick up something different. A stronger wind. This trip must have led him closer to the edge of the island. There's no indication he's about to step off the edge, or any such thing, but he has certainly come a long way.

Then … the fennec's ears pick up the sounds of creaking timbers, straining cables, and a flapping noise of some sort of tattered but heavy fabric.

Roho stops where he is… then decides if he goes any further, he may not end up reporting back at all; those are the sounds of many people, not just one. He starts to head back in the direction of the airship, making sure he remembers the path he takes well.

Finding his way back is fairly simple. After all, the fennec knows his own scent well, and it hasn't had time to grow cold – or, at least, he should be well on his way back to the airship before it becomes a trouble.

Roho takes the most direct route he can, back to the airship. He scratches a tree every once in a while, leaving himself a very small scent-marker to follow back, should the trail be hard to find. Those sure didn't smell like Shokar's crew back there…