Mogawg lays a hand on one of Chompy's wounds and it seems to heal up a little bit.
Chompy nearly passes out chewing on the Axeshanks once she is downed. He looks up very tiredly and weakly. The wounds over his body seeping a bit. He nods at Mogawg when he is "healed" and then proceeds to take a nap where he lay, Axeshanks in maw.
Scrabble didn't bother waiting for Rugnut to calm Breakfast down. He just deftly reached over and grabbed the tension release and gave it a twist. The jaws disengaged immediately.
When the big lizard shook the trap free Scrabble gathered it up and slung it over his back with the other one.
Ser Helmut bravely saucers over to the dead ladyshanks.
Rugnut picks up one of deadshanks' axes and begins to admire it. When he notices Breakfast chasing after Scrabble, he starts to hustle over there as fast as his stumpy little legs allow. "Breakfast! No! No eat Scrabble!"
Unexpectedly pinned beneath the massive lizard's bulky face, Scrabble was all ready to start stabbing and fighting, but was rendered helpless by his one weakness.
Tickles.
The savage goblin flailed and squirmed, cackling madly on the ground as Breakfast licked him.
Ser Helmut begins scavenging the stupid longshanks.
The longshanks gear rummaged through, Mogawg settles down to rest for the remainder of the day and sleep the night through. He tends Chompy's wounds a few more times , until they all go to sleep.
Rugnut tries to pull Breakfast off of Scrabble until he gets bored (approximately 17 seconds) and then wanders off to fall asleep.
Breakfast leaves when he's satisfied that Scrabbles wounds are clean, and eventually curls up around Rugnut.
The little goblin and his bird-lizard find a nice dark spot among some foliage.
The birdshanks had the right idea, being more taller was seeing better and farer. Dys climbs into one of the recently vacated shanknests and settles in to keep watch, which lasts for all of 5 minutes before she starts snoring, the boomstick cradled in her lap and her head resting on her chest.
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The night passes uneventfully, and you awaken the next morning feeling refreshed and ready for another day of shenanigans.
It takes another day of travel, but you finally make it back home to your fancy fort house! Won't your slaves be pleased to see that you've returned....
Ser Helmet annouces loudly.
Da Tribe of Not Knowing be back!
As they come within site of the tribe home, Mogawg quickly begins searching around for any sign of the Skelegodbug that he sent running home a couple days ago. Perhaps forgetting that the longshanks don't speak Goblin, he agitatedly inquires of the first he finds (either Oleg or Svetlana) about whether they saw Skelegodbug arrive.
In his best longshanks-speak, Rugnut greets his new friends.
For some strange reason, your longshanks slaves don't seem happy to see that you've returned - and brought new friends. Or maybe downturned mouths (Oleg) and poorly-hidden tears (Svetlana) mean something different in longshanks culture. It's hard to be sure. Both of them seem scared of Breakfast, though. Not that he'd hurt them, of course. Unless he gets hungry. Or bored. Or Rugnut tells him to.
They also seem unsure what to do with the giant stinking beginning-to-rot boar carcass you brought with you.
"They give us shineys for dead pig?
"Yes, the shineys!" This had seemed very simple at the start, but now they had killed the pig, and some longshanks, and a godbug, but there were no shineys to be seen.
Dys gives Chompy a confused look. There had been the papers with the words, and then... Dys couldn't remember the rest, but was pretty sure that Chompy knew how to get the shineys.
Chompy hearing calls for shinies and seeing not happy faces of the longshanks steps forewards and hops on top of boar carcass. "We's demands shinies for dah killings of dah big boar. Choppy saw writing tha words we get paid for dis. Also, we has taken care of black baby dragons dat was in the words too. Large godbug was slain and many gobbos were feastings upon banditshanks and dragons and godbug and boars fleshes. Gibs us shinies before wes has to punish for lies." he says at great length and roundabout wording.
He looks to the others and back at the longhsanks baring hungry teeth.
Ser Helmut straightens his oversized helmet.
Da Tribe of Not Knowing bees here ta Git paid!
Your slaves look progressively more confused as Chompy rambles on about slaying dragons and gods and other impossible things. There's a long pause after he finishes, but Svetlana eventually responds in a hesitating fashion.
"We ... are very impressed at your great deeds, mighty warriors. Let us send word to our friend Vekkel Benzen. He's the one who will pay for the big boar. If we do that now, he'll bring shineys tomorrow. Is that okay? While you wait, we can make you a big feast to celebrate your heroism!"
Ser Helmut announces,
Wees of da Tribe of Not Knowing likes feasts!
"Yes! We demands feasts for goblins and Breakfast!"
If Dys had feathers, they would be fluffed up now. Finally some proper recognition of their amazing deeds! And shinies! And feasts!
Feeling magnanimous, Dys adds: "And yous can eat at the feast too, you be good slaveshanks!" It occurs to Dys, perhaps belatedly, that the slaves could have run away in their absence, but they didn't.
She pats Svetlana approvingly, only instead of a shoulder she reaches for a knee. "Yes. Good sheshank, you."
"Yes, feast tonight, shineys tomorrow, and tomorrow-tomorrow we go that way and find Skelegodbug!" He says the last part pointing south.
Chompy relays all the information back and forth between the Slaveshanks and the Gobbos. He looks quite pleased with himself when the offering of a feast comes up. He nods his approval and when Dys mentions that the slaveshanks can eat it too, he quickly agrees and relays that back to Svetlana.
"Yes, we shall feast! You Longshanks will join us at table and feasts with us. It would please us!" he said loudly and importantly.
Scrabble was skeptical about sending word to other longshanks, but he got too distracted by all the talk of feasting to think about it much.
The feast is truly spectacular. There's green apples with worms in them for extra protein, beetles wriggling on a long skewer, extremely hard and crumbly chocolate cake, cheese covered in cook greenish fuzz, raw bacon, chewy gristle from a prime roast (the slaveshanks eat the middle parts and save all the gristle for you), pickles, and mushrooms! They also manage to find a few paper candle and star candle fireworks!
The next day (once you wake up), the boar head is gone. In its place is something even better than shineys!
M MW Longbow x1
+1 animal-bane arrow x6
Note: "I O U head cheese. Will deliver next week."
Rugnut eats considerably more than his fill at the feast and eventually falls asleep, snoring soundly in a pool of his own vomit.
The next morning, he is ready to go!
Eating and drinking; belching and vomiting; laughing and snoring, Ser Helmut enjoys himself!
Scrabble loved pickles! Pickles, pickles, pickles!
He was a bit miffed that all their work got them was a stupid longshank bow.
On the other hand, pickles!
Chompy looks at the stuff on the ground where their boar's head should be. He picks up the arrows and stares at them aggressively for a moment before throwing them back on the ground. He does the same with the longbow and then starts stomping around. "Why he give us Longshank stuff! Longshank gear not worth Goblin and Dragon effort! LONGSHANKS!!!! LONGSHANKS!!! WE ARE DISPLEASED!" he says angrily.
Chompy stomps angrily once one of the Longshanks shows up and he proceeds to angrily gibber at them for the lack of shinies. He demands that they make sure these are made into shinies!
In a near panic, the slaveshanks take the bow and arrows into a back room and close the door. Then they come out with shineys! A whole bag full of them!
"This is everything we have in the cashbox. Please don't kill us!"
The little goblin and his bird-lizard look pleased.
Rugnut takes a gold piece and puts it in the safest place he knows: his mouth.
"I want to go get Skelegodbug. Let's go!" Mogawg says to the others. He's not actually willing to go off by himself, however, so he waits for the others to agree.
Ser Helmut takes a long drink of ale.
Wees bees gitt'n goes ta da skelebug!
Scrabbler belched, wiped his mouth, and trotted out to go get the godbug.
Rugnut spews out a series of unintelligible syllables, takes a hard and painful-looking swallow, then continues, "And then we kill all longshanks with godbug as big as a mountain!"
Dys spends several long moments contemplating the pile of shinies. She vaguely remembers a plan to turn the shinies into metal rocks, but cannot remember the details now. Maybe if they go away for a while and come back, the metal rocks will just appear and be waiting for her at their new hut. Yes, that is very likely.
"Dys come too! Ride da skelebug."
Chompy looks pleased at the Longshanks. He does agree with the Gobbos though. They should go get Godbug, if at least to simply drape it's carapace across the Lair.
And with that, Mogawg happily begins moving south.
The wizard and his bird-lizard happily joins the tribe for exploring.
Wees bees gittn more shineys!
You set off on your next important quest: to find Skelegodbug. Before too long, you come across something interesting - an enormous field of flowers. Honey bees flit gently from blossom to blossom, collecting their sweet nectar. The smell is almost (but not quite) intoxicating. The variety among the flowers is truly spectacular: it seems that no two are alike. In fact, the more you travel through them, the more accurate that fact seems. Each and every one of the millions of flowers here is unique.
Ser Helmut peers intently at the mysterious foliage.