Rell tells Karasshi that if he lowers his weapon, the SI:7 agents will lower theirs.

Karasshi agrees, and all four of them slowly put away their armaments.  He then goes on to say that his people are not in the habit of welcoming strangers; the Alliance members may stay until Taylor is well, but then they must leave immediately.  He further warns the agents that they will be watched by the jinyu.

Before you continue your questing, have a look around- there are some supplies to be bought, you likely have some junk to sell off, and there are a few interesting things to see around the jinyu village- such as goldfish in floating water globes, axe-fishers, and the occasional bubble-herder.

When you talk to Rell, he asks if you think the natives should be trusted.  The first quest he has for you, The Pearlfin Situation, is specifically about this.  Rell claims that he’s been thinking about this- with the Alliance troops cut off from support and so far from any friendly land, they need help.  While the jinyu are mistrustful, they clearly aren’t actively hostile either.  Rell thinks that if you can convince them that you are friends, you can forge a valuable alliance with the fishmen.  Towards that end, he wants you to speak to the jinyu around the village and convince them that the Alliance forces desire only peace and are to be trusted- specifically, he needs you to talk to Elder Lusshan, Pearlkeeper Fujin, Instructor Sharpfin, and Ot’-Temmdo.

He also wants you to gather some supplies- there is no time to wait for the Admiral’s recovery and Rell intends to head north with Sully so that they can search for Anduin.  In order to do that, they’ll need something to eat on the way, so he wants you to gather food.  Happily, he has obtained permission to hunt some of the wildlife in and around the lake, so you are to collect six Tortoise Flanks from the reptiles that lurk in and around the lake waters.  In addition to the usual quest rewards, he is offering you ten pieces of Tortoise Jerkey in recompense for your work.

You should handle the tortoises first, just to get it out of the way- the creatures are fairly obvious around and beneath the lake (despite the fact that one of the distinctions between turtles and tortoises is that tortoises are land animals and turtles are amphibious) and while they are durable, they really don’t have noteworthy offensive strength- just more health than you’re likely to be packing at the moment.  If you happen to be a Hunter and want a defensive pet, this is probably your best convenient location to tame one, should you not already have a tortoise or turtle from a previous area.  The tortoises also tend to have Gumweed, an odd plant you can only use in or around Pearl Lake to restore randomly either your health or a useful resource.