Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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raixel
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Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

It has been two days since Artaxes and Thiy had to flee the ambush of the mercenary camp. Their headlong flight in the middle of the night has caused them to become hoplessly lost in the trackless wilderness. The two seem to be wandering through never-ending land of huge trees, mud, and giant insects. Odd chirps and twitters of what may be birdsong rongs through the trees, or perhaps it is the calls of small mammals. Both are covered in mosquito bites, but at least the version of the annoying bloodsuckers located here is of the "slightly larger than average" variety, and not like the dragonfly with the four-foot wingspan Thiy saw flitting near a stagnant puddle yesterday.

One bright spot, at least for Thiy, is that her pig found them on their first day in the swamp. How the creature managed to escape becoming food for the crazy ambushers and flee, she doesnt know. But she heard a "squueee, squee!" and there it was, looking proud of itself and oddly enough, wearing what looked like a piece of hemp rope knotted around its neck, with a long end that appears to have been chewed apart dragging behind it. But the elation was short lived for the monk. The swamp seems to stretch on forever, just unbroken expanses of green, brown, and grey. Greyish mud clings to the bottom of her robes, causing the damp and soiled robes to smack in to her legs repeatedly. The of insects and the calls of songbirds are unceasing, driving Thiy to distraction.

Artaxes stumps along beside the monk. His leather armor feels like it is made of wood, and it is damp with sweat and humidity. The swamp is the most humid place Artaxes has ever been. Even in his campaigns to the southlands, the air wasn't this oppresively humid. He remembers warnings from the officer's meeting at the Viborg Chapter of the Mercenaries Guild the day before his unit marched out.

In his minds eye he sees Captain Strom, in his well worn black leather dress armor, the studs polished and shining, standing before all the officers of the unit.

Alright, soldiers! Remember, this territory is much different than the forests around Viborg. The most important thing to remember is that humanoids are *not* native to the Zangaardian swamps. So think on that for a second. You get separated from the unit, it isnt like you can go find a friendly village to resupply and rest at. Sure, theres lizar living out there. IF you can survive the crocodiles, giant snapping turtles and HIgh Lords-know-whatever-else-is-out-there long enough to get to a village, and IF you can convince them not to kill you on the spot, and IF you can communicate with them, you just might be able to get them to give you a few giant-spider legs for lunch! Now doesn't that sound good? Now, BEFORE you start thinking taht it'd be ok if you get separated, you can stomach spider, let me remind you that our allies in Makan's word for the swamp lizars translates to "less than beast", and our allies have warned us that they are dangerous, stupid, greedy, and not to be trusted. So odds are your head would just end up decorating some tribal lizard's totem pole!

As the two walk along, wondering if they are ever going to get out of this hellish place, they stumble into a place where there are no more trees for about 30 feet in front of them, then the heavy swamp foliage starts again. The clear band stretches to he right and left as far as they can see Looking down there is thick mud, although there appears to be two very wide(two feet or so)parallel ruts about 10 feet apart in the mud, also stretching in either direction.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

Thiy's senses return to her finally. She must have been in some kind of sweat drenched daze for the past hour, yet this clearing was startling as it was so different when compared to the rest of this hazy hell. No trees. She thinks.

She feels a little nervous about the opening in front of them as the agoraphobia was induced by the normally clenching and unending swamp fauna. She was with nobody you could qualify as a thief which was unusual for her as she had kept some very questionable friends during her short adventuring life - yet she had one ally that could help. Thiy cast a glance down to her pig (no name) who seemed to be suffering far less than the rest of them. Magically the little pink bastard had avoided the leaches, the insects didn't like to drink it's blood and she swore that it had actually gained weight which was infuriating. During the most delirious of moments recently she would fleetingly see symbols of chaos skeet across it's pink and black patched hide. A shake of the head and a well placed boot in the swine's rear end moved it out in front of them where it would trot across to the closest rut in the mud and physically stick it's snout in.

She had uttered so few words to her companion over the past two days that it was perfect a pig's squeal would initiate the conversation. "I have promoted the pig as our new scout. He says it's clear to proceed but he won't tell us what made this clearing." If the pig couldn't find any danger maybe Thiy could find some clues or even truffles in the muddy rut.

OOC - Perception, maybe. (1d20+3=19)
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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I'll respond to you, Ian, but I'm gonna wait for OB to do a full update. I'm not quite sure how the rhythm of the game is gonna work out yet. I'm just about as busy as you are, (but fortunately my work allows me to dick around on the computer too :D) and running now two (most likely 3 once all players are in) threads is gonna be an interestng exercise in time management, which is something I was never good at anyway! The weird thing is is I'm running, i think, 8 hours at lest behind you guys. So where its 7:30PM sun here, its most likely 3 am where you all are. So I think I'm gonna do a 48 hour update.

The pig *squeees* at the boot in the rear, and charges out into the clearing. It looks around for a few seconds and begins to snuffle the ground, jamming its snout under the mud on the side of the ruts. After a few minutes rooting around, it brings its head up, jaws working. Looking on, Thiy can see some kind of huge black-shelled insectoid leg hanging out, before it quickly disappears into the crunching jaws. The pig then lays down and begins to roll around, coating itself in thick greyish-brown mud and looking as happy as the proverbial pig in a slop-pit.

Apparently the clearing is safe, and after making a comment to her companion, Thiy moves out to inspect the ruts herself. The mud here is much deeper than in the swamp proper, probably due to the lack of roots and fauna firming the ground, and the monk sinks nearly up to her calves in the stuff. She moves to a section away from the grunting and wallowing pig, to get a better look. Looking at the ruts, she sees that they
Spoiler
really appear to be the tracks of some kind of conveyance, although the wheels would have to be huge if it was a wagon as she was used to seeing. Even though she is no tracker, very ocassionally she can see something that looks like a huge semi-triangluar print near the ruts.Perhaps it is a road of some kind, although what is keeping it clear of the swamp, she has no idea.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

OOC - So Thiy doesn't see any effects of cutting or trampling in the open swamp area? Hmmm.

Thiy relays the track information to the human* and then throws a conjecture to him. "It's either swamp magic that keeps this place clear or..." she pokes around for more insectoid parts "...it's been consumed by some kind of ant train."

Which way now though? They must surely follow the tracks, perhaps in directions of the point of the triangles.

* She has associated herself with so many different and weird species over the past few years that she no longer differentiates her kind between male and female.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Artaxes turned and stared at Thiy when she speaks about the pig, unsure if it is a joke or not. Assuming the former he snorted lightly and kept on walking.

"Good thing that pig found us," he said as they walked, eyes focused on the path ahead. "Food will be scarce around here, and insects don't give enough energy for marching." It actually felt good to speak. Artaxes was not much of a talker, and normally felt no compulsion to break awkward silences, but even for him two days without interaction was beginning to become uncomfortable. "So what are you, some kind of priest?"

The clearing drew his attention, and he moved forward and examined the tracks as his companion described it. "Could be some sort of siege weapon" he suggested. "If so the problems are bigger than just a few bandits. Damn lizars" he snarled, either ignoring or forgetting that there had been equal numbers of humans in the attack.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

OOC - Yes, today is a bank holiday here in Spain ==> More dialogue!

Our monk felt uneasy about the pig, to be honest. There was either something unnatural about it or Thiy herself was becoming unhinged.

"I am a mere acolyte." was the best she could muster. She possessed no spells or special powers to entertain the feeble of mind unlike a priest or wizard. "And I am on vacation."

"A siege weapon? Perhaps. That means it is headed to a wall to break and to civilization." She pointed out the triangular symbol in the deepest of the tracks.

OOC - Damn, need to read Beo's thread and get a better gist of the world around me!
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Artaxes nodded as Thiy described herself as an acolyte - she had that look about her. But he was caught off-guard when she announced she was on vacation, and gave her a confused stare. "Some vacation" is all he could think of to mutter, as much to himself as her, before he re-focused on the path.

He looked to where she was pointing, and saw the triangular symbols. "Maybe we should follow the tracks. I don't know what direction it is being travelled though. Maybe your pig will tell us where to go" he deadpanned.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

Heh. I set it up that way on purpose. Its great fun to be able to be writin it from the perspective of Beo's char, and crafting the world of the lizar, arachne, anake people, and mantis men, then take all that and dump two humans in the middle of it, where they have no clue what the hell's going on! :D

Artaxes looks at the tracks, and sees the same thing Thiy does. The traingular marks appear to be the footprints of something pulling the wagon, although it oddly doesn't appear to be a quadriped. Looking around a little more, Artaxs realizes there are also triangular marks pointed in the other direction from the one first sighted.

Thiy's pig *squee*s again, and happily roots around in the mud, nosing up what looks like a 2 foot long shiny black beetle that has been burrowing in the thick mud. It skitters across the top of the ruts, before the pig pounces on it and gobbles it up. After that, the pig runs over to Artaxes and noses his hand, apparently searching for food.

As the two wander around, examing the area, there is a rumbling in the distance. Coming around a bend about 80 ft to the left, there is what looks like a strange wide, but low to the ground wagon being pulled by two bi-pedal reptiles approacing. The wagon's wheels are odd, and very tall and wide. Folded up underneath the wagon are what look like two giant sled runners. This wagon is follwed by another, and another, each of the same make and also being pulled by two bipedal lizards that look like a cross between a reptile and an ostrich (Look in the "lizar words" pots under grahhssk to get a better description.). As the wagon draws closer, the humans can see a lizar riding on a baseboard holding the beast's reins. The wagons are open topped, with some sort of heavy cloth rolled up on the sides, presumably in case of bad weather. Inside the first wagon, there are crates and barrels, as well as two other lizar. These lizar each are wearing leather armor and holding spears, and Thiy can see spears poking up in the other wagons as well, although she can't get a good look at the contents.

The driver of the first wagon sees the two human and the pig and pulls on his reins, and the wagon slows. Then he raises his arm high in the air and calls something that sounds like "SSSSaaahhlii KK", and the other wagons also slow, the armed lizar inside standing up and gripping their spears, watching the humans wairily. They don't seem like they are going to attack, however. At least not yet. Trade crosses all language and racial barriers, and both Artaxes and Thiy have seen enough caravans to know that unless the huamns make threatening gestures, to get in a fight would be a detriment to profit.

K, I'm gonna stop there to give you guys a chance to react. Go ahead and roll whatever you think may help, try and talk to the lizar, run, attack, sacrifice the pig to the forces of Chaos, eat a beetle. Whatever you want!:D
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Thiy cast a glance over to Artaxes. Neither of them were of a diplomatic bent so talking their way to wine and comfort was going to be out of the question... Then there was the pig. "Our ticket out of here is either on a wagon or following not far behind it." she suggests.

Thiy waves her hand in the air. "Hail!" she shouts in common. "We're a bit lost. Can we hitch a ride with you?" She relaxes a little. This diplomacy stuff wasn't too bad after all. So she continued in a more chatty manner. "Assuming that you understand what I'm saying of course. Otherwise you can go fuck yourselves." A momentary silence wrapped around her like a blanket. "Maybe you should do this talking shit." she hissed to Artaxes out of frustration.

OOC - An attempt at diplomacy. (1d20=20)

The problem for Thiy was that the only time she used body language was never for conversation but for finding the most effective way of removing the wind pipe of her enemy.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Artaxes generally didn't like merchants. They came, paid as little as possible for produce, and sold it on at exorbitant prices down the road. So the profits were made by the person who drove a wagon for a few miles, rather than the people who had put in months of back-breaking work. How was that even remotely fair?

In addition he was not very fond of lizardmen. And he had never seen these large bipedal reptiles before, but he could already tell they wouldn't get along.

As such he just glared at the caravan, until Thiy's irritated whisper reminded him that he had to say something. "Huh" he grunted with a nod of his head, as a vague greeting. Realising he should say more he continued. "We want to get to the nearest town. Where is this wagon heading?"

Aid another on Thiy's diplomacy was a less-than-stellar 2 - 1 = 1.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Thiy wasn't disappointed with Artaxes efforts, as she had such a low opinion of him already. She actually liked the fact that he was neither communicative nor the normal human-male-alpha-pushy-type. He was... A fighter, a farmer, a father. That little she knew about him was enough for Thiy to categorise and compartmentalise him in the bottom of her mind, and there he would stay for now.

"Yeah..." She added. And took two steps forward with a smile while avoiding showing her teeth. She learnt that one from living with goblins for a short while. "We're merchants too, sort of." And with that yanked the cloth rope tied around the pigs neck. "Which way to market?"

Then she realised that maybe she should try to crane her neck to see what was actually inside these wagons. Human carcasses from the result of a recent battle? Maybe a bad thing.

OOC - Perception check to divine the contents of the various wagons. (1d20+3=17)
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Thiy steps forward and starts speaking, the lizar look at each other and start speaking in a language that sounds like a bunch of hisses and clicks. A lizar in the first wagon climbs down the side of it and approaches the two, spear held at the ready, but off to the side. Thiy noices the posture resembles the way two street thugs who have business, but don't really trust each other, stand when first meeting. To Artaxes, who has seen many battlefield truces, the posture remind him of battlefield messengers of opposite sides meeting on the field of battle for a truce. Everything about the lizar seems to say "I wish to speak with you, but will defend myself if attacked." The humans notice that the other lizar in the wagon is watching them closely, spear held ready.

The creature looks them over, oddly enough seeming to peer at their foreheads. It (you cant tell if it is male or female) is wearing some kind of odd armor that looks like some sort of leather made out of thick reptile skin, wih something that looks like yellow chitin sewn to the breastplate and shoulders. Its gauntlets and greaves are also of the same make, the chitin in these areas having ridges of short spikes that were originally part of whatever creature grew the chitin for an exoskeleton, but now could aid in keeping the wearer from being grappled, as trying to grab a wrist or shin could be quite uncomforable. Underneath this, from what they can see of its scales, it appears to be a drab green color, fading to pale yellow on the belly.

Artaxes again remembers part of an officer's briefing by Captain Strom.

"Now see here," the captain says, pointing to a drawing of a lizar. "The lizars are all the same species, but the swamp lizars got different scales than the city lizar. Ya see, the city lizar are a little brighter colored. They got greens, and yellows on their scales. Even sometimes rust-red and orange. And the noble city lizar are even brighter than the common city lizar. Sometimes they even got bright blues and reds in their scales. See, where a common city lizar might have greenish-brown scales, a noble will have bright emerald. Where a commoner might have pale yellow or beige, a noble will have bright lemon yellow. This aint real important, cuz I doubt you lot are ever gonna seea noble, but if you do, remember to treat em with respect. They can get mighty touchy about things like rank and such, and the last thing we need is an incident cuz some fool merc went runnin his mouth off. Now, I suppose you wonder why I'm tellin ya this at all, one talkin lizard the same as the next, right? Well, heres the deal. The bad guys, them swamp lizar bandits we're gonna be fightin, they don't got any green, yellow, or other colors in their scales. They're all drab browns, beiges black, and grey. You wont see any bright whites, or greens. So, in the thick of battle, its a good way to check to make sure what sides one of them lizards is on.

The lizar listens to Thiy, but frowns at the conclusion.

"Sssspeakk I yhhourr worrrdsss. Butt to havvee mahhtingsss withh a mammahhl would be dissstttassstefull, att bessstt." it says, in heavily accented, but understandable common punctuated with clicks and hissses. It doesnt seem to undestand the insult implied in Thiys words at all, but more disgusted by the implication of mating with a mammal.

Thiy looks over the wagons as the lizar speaks. The first has wooden crates and barrels, all with some symbol burned in the side of the wood. She can't tell what is inside them from here. The lizar who remained in the wagon is perched on top of a crate, watching carefully.

The wagon farther back has bench-seating in it, and Thiy can see a few lizar, dressed in simple, but brightly colored and patterned, breeches and vests sitting around, impatient that the caravan has stopped. There is also a being dressed in blue robes made of some kind of gauzy silk. It has a cobra's head on a long articulated neck and deep green scales patterned with purplish diamonds in a row down its back. Its neck is extended and it appears to be watching the lizar interact with the humans, the interest obvious in its unblinking and inhuman yellow eyes.

Next to the snake being are two creatures that could hardly be called "people". One is a four armed and four legged hairy black upright spider the size of a man! It is wearing nothing but crossed bandoleers, and it appears to be busily weaving some kind of cloth with its four dextrous 3-fingered hands. As it weaves, it talkes animatedly with the creature next to it, a green-shelled yellow eyed mantis-man. The mantis man is wearing red robes of the same cloth as the snake-person, and ocassionally it punctuates a remark made to the spider by waving it's oddly jointed hands in the air (think of a praying mantis, only the "claw" is seperated into two fingers, with a small "thumb on the underside).

Thiy can't see into the last wagon, as the other two are blocking her view. She can see four spears sticking up, however. And it also looks like some kind of awning has been put up in the back of it.

Artaxes steps forward to speak, and the lizar frowns again at the obviously armed and armored human.

It takes the butt of its spear and draws a circle crowned by horns (the symbol the ambushers were wearing, DM players would know it as SAR) in the mud at the two human's feet. As it draws, it looks at the humans for any sign of recognition. "Kkknow thisss?" it asks them plainly not wanting to continue until it gets an answer.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Artaxes relaxed a bit - just a bit - when he saw the yellow colour on the lizar. At first glance it would seem that they were not swamp dwellers at least. But his anger levels rose as he saw them holding onto their spears so tightly and eyeing the humans warily. Makes sense though, I would do the same he had to grudgingly admit to himself. Still, his right hand gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

The variety of creatures on the wagon made him feel out of his depth, and though he would never admit it part of his anger stemmed from being in a situation he did not understand. He had no idea how to deal with such animals. The cobra-head made him feel especially uncomfortable, and he stared right back into its yellow eyes.

He spat on the ground when the lizar drew the symbol, and almost imperceptibly drew his sword a fraction of an inch while glaring at the creature. "We have seen it. Burned onto people's foreheads." He tapped his forehead to emphasise the point, taking half a step forward. "They killed our unit. But not before we made them pay."

Cool wagon, I love the CSB champion references!
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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"We had to flee. And run like rats through the swamp." Thiy added, happily nullifying any attempt of the fighter saving face. Realising that her comments would be unwelcome by her relatively silent companion over the past two days (no, I'm not talking about the pig) she feigned a moment of weakness to distract from the previous comment. "Ohh I... Suddenly feel so weak. We human females are not used to these harsh swamp environments. Is it possible for us to join you out of this domain of heat and insects? Our enemies are mutual and this human male has already proven he is not afraid of the SAR faced warriors."

OOC - No need to roll any kind of deceive check, as she doesn't care what Artaxes thinks!
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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The cobra headed person notices Artaxes' stare and dips its head in a kind of acknowledgement of the human. Its intense eyes are unnerving, although Artaxes doesn't get any sense of danger or predatory feeling from the gaze. After a few more seconds, the yellow slit-pupled eyes shift, and the creature fixes the same unblinking stare at the surrounding foliage, although the look of intrest is gone.

The lizar dips its muzzle at the fighter's vehemence against the marked ones. "Sssss, tthhisss iss welll." It's posture relaxes a bit and it shift its grip on tits weapon, so that the spear is no longer menacing the humans. Thiy steps forward and speaks, and the creature nods again "Sssss. Knno sssshhhame tthherree isss, to rrun frrom tthhhosssse off the sssshh'irr, the darrrkk ssspirit. Betttter tto be herrre ssssspeakking now, then havinggsss yourr sss'ahh assss a trophy, ssss.

Although still wary, it no longer has the incredibly tense look in its demeanor that it did when it first approached the two. It turns slightly so it is still facing the humans, but also can see the caravan and raises one arm.

"Sssaath'a'rrrsss! Ikk'kaassss'illlrr!" it calls. Or at least that is what the humans can pick up of the trills, hisses, and clicks that come out of the creature's mouth. Whatever it said, the watchful guard in the first wagon also raises one arm and shouts something else in the same language. The two humans notice taht the wagon guards relax somewhat although they are still being watched close.

Thiy starts to complain about being faint, and the being cocks its head, birdlike, at her. "Hsss. Yourr kind issss ssso different that yourr femalesss are weak? Do tthhey allssso die afterr tthheir firrsssstt drik'sssa likke tthhe ssslith, whaat yourr kkind callsss 'may'fly''? Lizar femalesss are proud of their ssstrengthh."

The humans can see the two narrow holes on the lizar's nose that are its nostril slits close and open, as it scents the air around Thiy. "Hsss. You have no drik'sssa sssscent." it says, looking slightly confused. "Thisss makess me glad I am lizarr, if to be hyuman isss to be weakk, and hhaving no drik'sssa."

Apparently coming to some kind of decision, it turns back to Artaxes.

"Welll, sssince obviousssly your female wisshess to ride withh usss, I assssk you if thisss iss yourr wisssh. We go to Makan, sssss, witthh sssuppliesss and travellerrsss. You lookk a warriorrrr. Yourr bladesss would be welcome and yourrr female can ressst. Therre arre ssshh'iirr da'lasssk about, and I would nott wantt even a mammal tto havee tto facsse tthhem allone.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Artaxes stared at Thiy as she spoke, his eyes wide in shock. However as the conversation progressed he had to admit that it seemed her tactics were working - she had secured them passage on the wagon. Against all his instincts he placed a hand behind the nun, and helped her towards to the wagon. "Don't worry. It looks like we have a ride" he said in as soothing a voice as he could manage.

"Yes, I am a warrior. And we would be..happy...to accept your offer." Looking up at the caravan he had no idea which of the creatures he should sit near. All of them seemed equally foreign and unpleasant.

The guard's off-hand attitude to mammals annoyed him. And when he called humans weak it took extreme effort not to shout off an angry reply. Instead he just gritted his teeth and helped Thiy aboard the wagon. All these lizars are racists he thought bitterly.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

OB, just to let you know, it didnt call all humans weak, but was comparing human females to itself. Basically saying, I"m glad I'm a lizar chick instead of a human chick Sorry I didnt make it clear enough. Its hard to do with the speech patterns and accent, and also make it intelligible. But if thats what Artaxes thought, cool with me :D.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Artaxes gloved hand acted like a psychic broadsword across Thiy's back. It wouldn't be until a few brief seconds later that she realised that he was only trying to help her and that it was her own fault that she practically invited him to invade her space. No human had touched her since she had murdered her own master, another man, and that she had been living practically feral since. She had forced herself into her own universe to escape the consequences of her actions, and all of that mental cushioning suddenly came crashing down around her.

And this time she really did feint.

And hard, onto the floor of the wagon. She had her muscles tense up and could barely breathe after he started guiding her to the wagon but it wasn't until she hit the wooden floor that she was jerked back into reality.

"I'm okay!" Oh god. "This swamp is so draining..." Don't let them touch me again. "No! No need for help. Just get the fucking pig up here will you... Artaxes wasn't it?" She didn't see the look on his face after she had asked him.

Two days of travelling with him and she could barely remember his name, and narrowly escaped from murdering him (or more likely herself). The nun would appear to be suddenly very pale and twitch occasionally. This was their escape? It was horrible being cramped up with others like this. At least most of them were alien. She was used to sharing her space with some frightening individuals but the human male... "Just don't touch me, okay?" she quietly said to him. And with that she crouched up with the pig when it was handed to her. It was truly a pathetic sight, if you were human.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

Ok Raixel, I re-read and that makes sense. But I think I will still keep Artaxes interpretation of events!

The nun's reaction was one more thing to unnerve and shock Artaxes. Either she was a fantastic actress or she actually was about to collapse. Gathering the pig he followed her, as she continued to insist that he not touch her. What had caused this?

Then it started to make sense in his mind. These religious types were locked up for years. Perhaps the lack of male companions had gotten to her, and something as simple as an hand on the back could evoke feelings she had to repress. Yes, that must be it.

He admired the dedication that a religious life must entail, and respected someone who could maintain it. As such he had no intention of doing anything to make her vows harder. "I understand" he whispered, with a kind, sagely nod, as he resolved to be more careful in future.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Hey, like I said in Beo's game, sorry for the delay. I got swamped at work, then my hour nap turned into a "Why the hell is my alarm going off, oh shit, I slept *that* long!?" I *love* the way your chars act toward each other BTW. Talk about night and day! And yes, lizars are racist. For the most part, anyway ;).


The lizar warrior catches the pig and hands it up to Thiy, closing her nostril-slits at the creature's smell. "Jusssst makke sssure it doesss nott makke sssoil in tthhhe wagonn, and kkeep itt underr conntrrol, sssss." she says to the monk, before going back to the first wagon and climbing in. The pig noses the monk's face for a second, then curls up next to her, grunting happily to itself. The creatures on the wagon don't seem to notice or care that Thiy is holding a pig and that this is unusual for a human, although like the guard, she can see the ones closest to her closing their nostril slits against its foreign smell.

The snake-man scoots over to make room on the bench next to it, and points to Artaxes, then to the bench next to it. As Thiy and the pig are taking up most of the room on the floor of the wagon, and none of the other beings are making room, it seems the best option. As the fighter stands there, myriad pairs of yellow and green reptilian or insectoid eyes watch the humans, but turn away disinterested after a few minutes. There is the call of Sssshh'a! Sssalak, nshhossss!" and the wagon creaks and jolts as the caravan begins to move. The snake person peers at Artaxes for a second, and says someting unintelligible in a language that sounds like air rasping across scales. It then moves its hands in what Artaxes recognizes as a rune pattern and whispers "UM OH EW". An odd blue glow flies from its fingertips towards its mouth, and the humans see the glow coalesce around its reddish-black forked tongue as the tongue flicks in and out of its mouth.

"Greetingsss, human." it says at it fixes Artaxes with its unblinking eyes. Oddly enough, it has none of the heavy accent that one would expect from a reptile, only a slight hiss on the siblants. "I am Thhraxxisss, of the house of Ven. I have cassst a sspell sso we may conversse. I wissh to apologisse for the other'sss unfrriendlyness, but you musst undersstand that very few mammalsss come to Zaangaard. The only oness we ever ssee are ussually with the sssh'iir, what yourr kind calles Chaoss-worssshipers. Ssso, to ssee humansss come out of the sswamp, ssuddenly, in an area where ssh'iirr are known to be, was sssusspiciouss." It cocks its head in thought than says "Ssso, you were part of a mercenary group to get rid of the dalasssk sssh'ir? I have heard of this, although my city state, Sssha-Othorr did not sssend warriorss to fight. It painss me to know that many livess were losst to the dark oness. I pray to Sssha that their ssss'kaathh, their vital ssspirit, flies free to their High Lord for reincarnation." When Thhraxxisss says the name of Sssha, he moves his long neck in a hypnotic pattern and draws a symbol with his finger on his chest. "Ssso, it ssemss you find yoursself in foreign landss, I will help you to undersstand thiss place you have gfound yoursself in, if you want."

The spider being finishes its weaving and bends over. Thiy watches and realizes that the silk it is weaving is coming directly out of spinnerets on its abdomen. It brings its mandibles down to the spinnerets and deftly snips the strands, before tying off the free ends into the rest of the weaving. It streches forward to Thiy, holding the cloth in its two upper arms. It chitters at the monk, as it motions at the cloth with one lower arm, the other pointed at Thiy. The cloth is a pale bluish green and probably 5 feet on a side, plenty big enough to be used as a small blanket or cut into a shirt. The creature appears to be offering it to Thiy.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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OOC - Wow, I just learnt what a Sibilant is. Thanks!

Thiy was mostly oblivious to the conversation going on around her as she was wrapped up in her own misery. It had come flooding back, that which she had pushed to the back of her mind. She would mentally parse it all once more, she told herself, but little by little. Attempting to come to terms with it all but not to become overwhelmed by those past experiences.

She looks up as the spider monster offers her the precious material. Why? Why is it that the denizens of the infernal or the miscreants and the freaks are the ones that she always seems to receive their blessings. Artaxes had done nothing wrong yet he had already hurt her, and even before that she had assumed that he would do so. She accepted the gift, and used one of her shuruiken to cut and shape it into an shirt over the passage of the journey. Thiy would even remove her own robes during the course of her efforts to test her work, completely oblivious to what the human male may think of her revealing her naked upper torso. She was with the monstrous, and it was where she had become accustomed to, and to almost become relaxed with.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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The cloth is baeutiful, with a sheen like satin, but the texture of the softest silk. It is also tough, and it is difficult for Thiy to cut into it with her shuruiken, although she manges as the caravan bumps along the road.. She can see herself reflected in the spider's six eyes as it watches her, than clicks its mandibles a few times. It waves one hairy arm and bends its thorax in something that could be called a bow. Thhraxxis notices, and speaks in the clicking, hissing language the humans are starting to recognize as the language of the myriad races of Zaangaard. KInd of a swamp-common, if you will. The spider responds in the same language, although its version has less hisses and more clicks, chitters and pops.

The cobra-headed man nods at the spider and turns to Thiy. "It is very unusual for arachne to give away their sssilk, essspecially to ssomeone they just met, and a mammal at that. Even a few kalassh of it commands high prices in my home. It is sstronger than leather, and even though it ssems flimsy, it can turn all but the keenesssst blade. But Kctik'klik seems to like you. I asssked him why he gave you the ssssilk, and he sssaid he ssssees the pain in your passt. He asked me to tell you that pain ssshared iss pain halved. What thiss meanss, i know not. Hisss people are notoriously cryptic, putting much sstock in omenss and the like. Many of them are touched by visssions."
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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"Tell Kctik'klik thank you for me." And returns the bow but from a kneeling position. She was accustomed to such a submissive gesture from her experience with her fellow cultists. "And thank you." She added.

She didn't wish the think of her past right now, and continued to be distracted with her efforts on the shirt. She discovered that the spider-thingy was indeed a master weaver of his own bodily excretions and Thiy would attempt to undo parts or tie up others would be the source of much frustration. Bumping along however, she persevered...

Pain shared is pain halved.

She had no one to share such information. And the very idea of relating her experiences to others was abhorrent to her. Who could take off the mask that she wore?
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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K, Ian, I'm gonna give you a brief update cuz I dont think OB made it today, but gonna wait till tomorrow to advance the story. And that Wikipedia article on siblants was the most complicated way ever to say is a "ssss" or "ssshh" sound ;)

Thhraxxiss nods, and makes a few simple hisses and clicks at the spider. Kctik'klik responds with a few pops and chirps, but Thiy notices when he speaks, he faces her and not Thhraxxiss. "He sssaysss you are welcome, and wisshes he knew how to tell you in your own language." The snake man goes back to watching the passing scenery, and then Kctik'klik stands, his abdomen shifting underneath him as he puts his weight on his lower four legs. With his lower two pairs of arms he reaches under the bench and pulls out a pack made of the same greenish-blue material, and rummages through it with his two upper arms. He pulls out an odd open topped wooden box with pegs sticking out of the side every few inchesand what looks like a wide meshed net made of silk. He stretches the net made of silk over the box and wraps the endas around the pegs, then slowly begins to pluck the mesh with two arms, turning the pegs on the side with the other two.

An odd hypnotic thrumming begins to come out of the box, that changes in pitch as the spider turns the pegs. After a few test-plucks, Ktch'klik begins to quickly turn the different pegs at the same time that he plucks different sections of mesh, and a haunting but beautiful song rises out from the box. It is like nothing the humans have ever heard before, long mournful dirges underneath a light melody. It brings to mind perfect summer nights, sitting in a forest at dusk and feeling the earth around you. A lizar in a deep purple and orange vest turns its head when the music starts, and brings out a small hand drum, tapping along and providing a baseline to the spider-beings strumming. Other lizar clap along to the beat or tap their feet, although some just listen appreciativelly.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Thiy listens enchanted to the music, with the previous pain already draining from her face. The music worked it's magical effects on her and her shoulders lowered as she finally relaxed once more. It was strange how some of her most happy or memorable moments were always with strangers and strange folk. She continued about her work, but at the same time absorbing the atmosphere around her. Thank you. she mouthed to the spider-thing. It was a spellbinding scene that was only interrupted by the bumping of the wagon and the occasional sound of a grahhssk vigorously defecating with all of the exertion of having to pull them all.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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K. I'm gonna update cuz its been 2 days. OB, go ahead and retcon anything in you want.

The music makes the ride pass quickly, as the haunting melody wraps the two humans and seems to carry them to far away places, out of this swamp, out of this wagon, and for once they can forget the slaughter they just witnessed. Finally, as the sun begins to go down, Ktch'klik stops playing and begins to dismantle his instrument. As the last strains fade into the air, the lizar make a repetative clicking sounds with their mouths. The spider turns at the noise, and bends his thorax over his abdomen in an odd bow.

There is a call from the driver of the first wagon, that is repeated down the line, and the wagons slow down. After a few hundred yards, they pull off of the road into a kind of clearing. Looking around, the humans can see that this place is obviously designed for travellers to stop. Scattered around are large firepits built into the ground of stone and metal, each one far enough away from the others to allow wagons to circle around it and a modicum of privacy for the people camping there. The ground is hard packed dirt and gravel, unlike the thick mud that makes up the road. Outside of the fire area, but still within where a caravan would circkle there are stone rings set into the ground, and there is a lage central well with a heavy bucket and wood cover for all the travelers to share. The caravan circles around a firepit and grinds to a halt. The other beings travelling with the humans stand as soon as the caravan stops, stretching limbs and rummaging in packs for camping gear. Thhraxxisss stretches as well and turns to Artaxes.

"Ahhhh it isss good to be near ssscivilization again! We are about two dayssss outsside of Makan, and thisss area is patrolled by their road-guardsss, at leassst sssomewhat. Thisss doess not mean we are perfectly sssafe, however, asss there sstil may be banditsss. But ssstil, it iss better than camping in a foot of sssstanding water." the snake-man says to the two.

"I will be sssetting up my tent over there" he continues, pointing to an area near the firepit. You are welcome to ssset up near me. Alssso, if the guard comess around assking for volunteersss for watches, I would recommend volunteering. It could go a long way towardsss ssshowing the lizar that you are trusstworthy."

With that, the snake-man nods, gathers his bags, and climbs nimbly down the steps cut into the side of the wagon. Other lizar file out, as well, leaving the humans, Ktch'klik and the mantis-man on the wagon. Ktch'klik nods to thiy, and points to a tree overhanging the edge of the clearing, then to himself. The mantis man nods at the two, and climbs down as well. Ktchklik doesnt use the carved steps, but easily jumps off of the side.

Thiy's pig noses her in the leg, and she can tell that it probably wants food. Either that or it was letting her know it had to go to the bathroom. Who knows, what it was thinking.

The drivers and guards of the wagons busily start preparing the caravan for the night, letting the draft lizards out of harness and tying them up with the provided stone rings, and placing armfuls of foliage and toting leather buckets from the well to be put in a stone trough near the tie-up for the creatures to eat and drink. Other guards start unrolling the canvas that is strapped to each wagon and tying it tight across the top of the wagons, making it very difficult for any would-be thief to get to the goods easily. The same guard they first spoke to approaches them, holding a small sharpened piece of bone and what looks like a large dried reed in her hands.

"Sssooo...I ammm tttaking peopplle forr guarrd-watch thisssss nightt. Alssso, if you can hhhhandle the grahhssk, wwwe coulllld usssse hhhelp overrr therre, ifff you do nnott wissssh to guarrrd. It isss up to you. ssss Wwe sssstil neeed a firrrrsssst watch, and a dawwwn watch. You dontt hhhave to hhelp iff you dont wantt, but thheen I may hhhave to asssk for pay hsssss." she says
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Yes, I am rarely around at the weekends, and I would say never around for long weekends. Feel free to update though, so long as I don't come back and Artaxes is dead, or dressed as a fancy lady, or whatever.

The journey with the cobra-headed creature was surprisingly painless, and while Artaxes did not speak a great deal when they did converse it was interesting. Despite himself he took the time to listen to the details of the lands around him, occasionally throwing in a comment or question. Always know your enemies was a motto that had proven useful time and again, and though he was not certain that the reptilians were his enemies it paid to be careful.

He was glad when they arrived at the camp, and took up the snake man's offer. "Yes, I will join you. Safety in numbers". The snake (Artaxes had long forgotten his name) had actually been the friendliest creature he had spoken to in three days, so it was as good a place as any. "I will try to find someone to volunteer for watch, it would be good to do something." He nodded as he walked away.

Seeing Thiy as he moved away he commented. "I am staying here, with the thing-with-the-snake-head. You are welcome to join us, though I will understand if you would...prefer to be elsewhere."

"And what did that spider give you?" he asked suspiciously. "People rarely hand over gifts for free. Also be careful of that "pain shared, pain halved" bullshit. It sounds like he is trying to interrogate you."

When the guard arrived Artaxes nodded. "Yes, I can guard. Whenever you need me."
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Our nun sighs to herself as she looks at the pig, who was at eye level with her on the wagon and quite possible needing to pee. To be honest she was surprised that the pig was house trained as she recalled it being chained up in her master's quarters(*) on a long tether. It was ignored and humanoids rarely entered the room. Thiy bends over so her back is horizontal to the wagon forming a step, pulls the pig's cord around it's neck by her far arm and lets the heavy pig flop from the wagon onto her and then onto the ground. One of the most demeaning actions a master could ask a slave to perform, let alone someone thinking up the idea themselves. The pig was heavy and so both Thiy and the pig landing in an unseemly heap, but with no broken bones. This was all part of Thiy's training in her mind. To lose the 'self' part of her.

Thiy cocked an eye at the proposition of participating in the guard-watch. It was not uncommon for travellers or customers to participate in the chors. Indeed it was common sense! However Thiy wanted a bit more space from the human male for now. "Yes we'd be happy to help." She cast a look to Artaxes for assurance. "Which watch would you prefer Artaxes? I'll take the other." She also realised that it would be more reassuring for the guard if he separated the humans. Less probability of any planned nasty surprises occurring.

(*) Oh yes. That pig has seen some things in that room what would even make Thiy shiver. Why it was there she had no idea but it had seen the nun suffer no doubt.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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In reply to Artaxes she just grunted. Neither confirming nor denying his observation. It was possible that in the first few droplets of rain the shirt that she was now wearing would shrink and crush her but... Fire perhaps. Best avoid that.
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Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

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Thhraxxis is a genial companion, and once Artaxes can get past the intensity of his unblinking yellow eyes, the cobra-headed man proves to know much about the land of Zaangaard and the races that live there, willingly sharing any knowledge he has with the human. He seems curious about the human lands as well, admitting to the mercenary he has always had an interest in learning about other cultures besides the ones of Zaangaard, and wishes to travel to see the great human city of Viborg, or perhaps even Banville I am so tempted at add "and the palace of Duke Trantor" :D someday. As the two talk, the spider-being's music a backdrop to the ride, Artaxes learns a bit about the lands he finds himself in, and shares a bit about his culture too and the attack that the two humans had to flee from. Thhraxxiss' interest seems purely academic, and Artaxes gets no feeling that he has ultierior motives, but just seems excited that he gets to speak to a member of a race that he has never met before.

Basically, in game terms, you can ask me a basic question about something in the swamps, and I'll let you know the answer. Note that this doesnt cover esoteric subjects, but more stuff like "what is the basic political structure of (races) main city" "what is the basic difference between swamp-lizar and Makan lizar""where is (city) located" "what beings come from what area" "what is (city's) main export" "how do I get to (area)". Stuff that anyone growing up in an area would know. Ian, if Thiy was listening, you can do the same.

When Artaxes agrees to set up near Thhraxxiss, the snake man nods. "I hope you esscaped with your camping sssupliess. If not, I could assk Ktch'klik if he would be willing to weave a rain cover for you, asss arachne sssilk isss very water repellent. I will not be taking a watch tonight, asss I musst sssudy my magic."

"I am travelling to Makan to meet with other sssscholarsss, a meeting where ssstudentss of the runesss from all over Zaangaard come together onccce a sscycle to dissscusss advanccess in the ssstudy of the mana that pervadesss out world. The knowlege you gave me about the ussse of the SAR rune by the sssh'irr, the Chaossss-worsshiperss, will be mosst valuable. Thisss wasss mostly unknown before you sssspoke of it to me, and if you hadn't ssssurvived to tell about it, it would ssstil be. We knew they were usssing it asss a sssymbol, but didnt know they had actually learned to gain power from it. I thank you for thissss knowledge and I, and indeed all the ssscivilized racesss, are in your debt." he says as he gathers his things, then climbs down to set up his camp.

The guard lizar nods at Artaxes and carves a mark on the reed with the bone. Artaxis can see taht there are other marks, and the reed appears to be a list of some kind.

"Verry well. ssss. Issss ttthhe ffffemale wwell enouughhh ttto be onn wattch asss wwell?" At Thiy's response, she nods, seeming to understand and appreciate that the monk asks for the two humans to be on seperate watches to show they are trustworthy.

"Hsss. I wwwilll be onn firssst watch, and Ktch'klik wwwill be onn ttthhhe dawwn wwattcchh, asss hhisss kkind nneedssss lesss ressst thann mossst ottthherr beingsss, ssss. Kkkeep inn minnd tthhatt hhe doesss nottt ssspeakk yourr worrds, altthhoughhh I amm sssure gesturresss wwill be ennoughhh. Sssso whhittcchh off you wwanttssss wwhhichh wwatchh?"

She makes a note on her reed to the answer, and nods, before going to see that the camp is set up properly. The humans note taht she appears to be leading this caravan, as the other guards and drivers seem to be deffering to her as they go about there tasks. A small fire is built in the fire-pit, and a kettle is put on a clever stone hook that swings on an arm built up from the side of a pit, to boil some water for whatever the cook is making. Ktch'klik is busy building some kind of silk web-hammock thing in the trees above where Thhraxxiss and the mantis-man are setting up their small tents. The humans notice the tents are odd shaped half-spheres made of a very fine mesh, obviously designed to keep insects and rain away, more than provide shelter form the ekements.A space has been left for the humans nearby, and Thhrraxxis waves them over when he sees them leave the wagon.

The pig *squeees* and grunts as Thiy picks it up and then lets it use her back as a stepping-stool. As it hits the ground along with her in a pile, she feels a warm snuffling nose in her ear, and looks up into a pair of tiny blue porcine eyes. The beast then runs a few feet away, outside of the wagon circle, and a steam of urine followed by a pile of manure drops to the ground. It then runs back over to Thiy and grunts at her happily. Fortunatly, even though her ex-master was as fat as the pig and a whole lot less companionable, he had taught the creature to defacate away from where humans were, thereby avoiding the problem of piles of pig shit right on his front walk. Or in Thiy's case, angering the others in the caravan by having it drop a load right next to the firepit where the food is.

The beast puts its snout to the ground and runs around the clearing. It starts rooting around in the ground near a downed log that makes up part of the border of the clearing, and digs up a fat green grub, which is gulps down, making little grunts as it chomps away. As it digs some more, the grub is followed by a beetle, some kind of root, a few more grubs, more roots, and an odd small blue-and red scaled lizard as it runs along the side of the log. Having satiated itself for the time being, the pig runs back to where Thiy is and lays down, grunting to itself. Thiy notices it seems to avoid the lizar. Perhap it is intelligent enough to know they are different than her. Or perhaps they just smell funny.

K, so have fun. FEel free to wander around, look at stuff, try and communicate with others, set up tents, whatever. Roll a *bluff* if you want to try and communicate with someone, and a knowledge nature (or int) if you want info about any of the things you see in the swamp.
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