Background
The party was among the final refugees from the fall of Benges (when it was taken over by the Blue Women and their allies) who, with surviving Benges guards and other refugees, escape via ship. You are helping protect the refugees along with the Benges guards. Your ship was chased out of sight of shore by Blue Women whom you "lost" in a major storm. The vessel was designed as a coastal hugger, and was heading towards the country of Aereolus (either Ford or Aereolus City, itself).
The storm severely damaged the ship and many crew and passengers were lost overboard before the storm blew your vessel onto the Southern coast of Dragon Island, shipwrecking the vessel. Most of the food destroyed, with only about 1 week remaining.
The island is called "Dragon Island" because of its shape (it resembles the foot print of a dragon), and not because there are dragons on the island (as far as you know). The island is roughly 100 miles (north/south) by 40 miles.
The ship is currently shipwrecked in a stony cove, resting on its starboard side. It is being used as shelter and protection. Currently, there are 4 crew (with an injured captain), 10 soldiers (4 injured), 30 refugees - 12 children, 3 men, 15 women. Two days after being wrecked on the island, the encampment was assaulted by mermen from the sea. During that raid, 5 members of the boat were kidnapped and dragged down to the depths. Since, then, there have been regular raids on the boat causing injury, but no new deaths or kidnappings. However, everyone recognizes this situation is untenable.
On the other (north) side of the island is a small port supporting a copper mining community. The only way to reach the port and get help is to traverse the backbone of the island to reach the port and get help. Due to the arduous and dangerous nature of such an expedition, it would not be feasible for the entire complement of the ship to make this trip. The Party has agreed to make this venture, while the remaining guards, sailors, and refugees work to repel the merman.
Dragon Island is a volcanic, steep and broken-sided, serrated cone. A sizable stream flows down, starting somewhere on the peak and finishing in the cove, eroding lava tubes and creating a natural path to try and surmount the island. Streamers of steam or smoke can be seen rising from the cone.
The island is made of lava, basalt, and pumice, with the ground and rocks being black. Black dirt covers much of the island, thickest where it lies in depressions protected from the wind that continually sweeps from West to East. Large flocks of nesting birds can be heard crying from its cliffs, and large fields of guano contrast whitely against the black landscape. Birds can be seen in flocks and individually gliding in the strong winds along the litoral of the island. Twisted scrub pines, juniper, sea grasses, moss and lichens provide points of color on the landscape, and small mammals (rats, shrew, squirrels, feral casts, fox) eke out an existence.