"Lump, what is the range of your magic that grants the understanding of languages? Would you have to touch him?" Tayanalla asks.
"Yes." comes Lump's reply to Tayanalla's question. "Now now, Master Goodwin wouldn't want us to get violent if we can help it." he says to Ash.
Lump interposes himself between Ash and the newcomer, turning in one circle showing his hands to be empty as his mandolin is slung across his back.
"Can you understand me?" Lump asks of the newcomer.
Grobly seese the others respond to the figure from behind, and the goblin reacts with a start- jumping into the air and hissing as he disappears under Bazzts wing. "And that is why we don't like flying during the daytimes." Grobly eyes the figure up and down, attempting to place it as friend or foe.
Lump speaks in Common to the man, who pauses and then responds in what appear to be several languages, none of which any of you recognize, until he says something in Celestial, which both Lump and Karkoran speak.
The man speaks Celestial, it seems somewhat different, but the words are pretty much the same, and it occurs to you that a language like Celestial may be quite eternal and perhaps change little. "I have been watching and following you, as it seems you are aware. You do not appear to be a typical ragtag mob of humanoids. Tell me, who are you? Your appearances would be a poor or foolish disguise, so I must take them at face value. Are you druids? What brings you to these lands and what are your goal? I must also warn you, I am quite capable and I advise against any attempts of violence."
Tayanalla doesn't understand the ongoing speech, but she keeps her bow lowered as to not be threatening.
Her snakes keep a watch in all directions.
The man upon seeing the snakes reacts as if he had known about them but had forgotten and shields his eyes, although he may know that it won't help that much.
"If one of you understands him, tell him he has nothing to fear from my .... hair" Tayanalla says to the group.
She throws the stranger a wink.
Karkoran will keep his weapons sheathed/belted and reply in Celestial "Greetings. We come to these lands as strangers and not as enemies or invaders. Until recently we dwelt on another plane under the care of our good master the Archmage Goodwin. You may have never heard of him, as we have been in a magical sleep for ten thousand years. We had been awoken just yesterday and had to very rapidly leave the demi-plane as it collapsed around us with little for possessions. We appeared with many of our kin in the mountains upstream. We were attacked by goat people and we left. Feel free to ask us any questions. You have no need to fear us or any attack if you are good of heart. My friend here, you also do not need to fear her hair."
The man seems skeptical
"Right.....Seems totally believable. At least you thought of a reason why you don't have any equipment or clothing. Where did you get those fancy weapons and jewelry? Why does the frog man have a mandolin? Are you escaped criminals? We had a guy escape from our prison a year ago, ran off in to the wilds. Never did find him. Didn't really bother to track him down or pay to have the Diviners to find him. Anyhow, lets assume this ridiculous story is actually true. Put yourselves in my boots. I can't have you all tromping around these lands scaring the wits out of the locals. We have logging and mining camps near here." He runs a hand through his long hair. "I suppose you are all just as much trouble without your weapons as with them, so I am not even going to bother to confiscate them from you two." He motions at Karkoran and Tayanella.
"I am Hawke, Head Marshal of the Griffon Riders. I need to escort you somewhere. I can't just waltz you all in to Cliffort without making a big commotion, so we will need to smuggle you in somehow after darkness. You can meet with the Thain, and he can figure out what to do with you. We are going to have to take a less traveled path, and I need to keep you in sight. I will take to the air and make sure no one runs in to you. Don't try anything funny. I'd rather this day turn into a whimsical story I tell my grandkids rather than having to fill out a bunch of reports on some uppity monsters I killed. The dwarves love their reports."
Against his better judgement, Karkoran opens his mouth again "I think we would welcome the chance to talk to your Thain. We really need information more than anything. We don't know the world, the nations, or any of the languages in it. We need to find a lost temple or something that will help us find our master, perhaps some old maps or ancient history. Do you know of any lost temples near? The magic that brought us here was supposed to locate us near it but I think it was flawed. We could use some equipment too. Although I think we could survive in the wilds indefinitely, we need access to supplies and other materials to make our quest easier. We have no interest in causing mayhem. How many other minotaurs do you know that speak the tongue of the upper planes?"
"Hrrmph, well he can help you if he decides, not up to me. As far as any temples, well the hills and valleys around here are dotted with many old ruins dating back centuries or more. If you are serious about ten thousand year old temples you better hire some diviners, because the chance you stumble on it by walking around is worse than nothing. But what do I know?"
"Indeed, the long story made short is that there was a catastrophe, and the contingency plan of our teacher, Master Goodwin, was to send us to the temple that the large one speaks of. Granted, a great length of time has passed, and here we are, no idea where the temple was or even if it is still here."
Lump sees the man eying his mandolin, then says, "Yes, you are correct. We are not in disguise, the architects of our appearance here sought to ensure we each had our most prized item with us. You see that many have weapons, as a warrior's most prized possession would be a weapon. My mandolin is my most prized possession, as I am not particularly a warrior. I can play some tunes, if you like, or if it please the Thain. We are strange in appearance, yes, somewhat of an experiment of Master Goodwin to teach monsters such as ourselves to behave nicely among 'civilized' folks. I assure you, that in truth, we are here to learn of the aforementioned temple, learn of what -if anything- has befallen our erstwhile teacher, and to go about attacking locals unprovoked would be counterproductive in both respects. I doubt you'll have trouble from us, other than the prejudices of your city-folk being affronted by our appearance. In good faith, I will comply with all of your demands, provided they are reasonable. I don't want to be tied up or a bag placed over my head, et cetera..."
The man arches his eyebrow at Lump
"Well aren't you well spoken and respectful? As ridiculous as your story seems, I can't fathom why anyone but the completely insane would come up with such farce, unless it were actually true."
The man squeezes the temples at his forehead with his thumb and forefinger
"Why couldn't you just have been some rampaging orcs that I had to drive off or fill full of arrows? No, you had to be some bizarre mix of monsters with some mystical lost master. Ok, well like I said before, lets just get to the fort and I will get you in and we can figure things out. You better not be assassins or so help me. Maybe I better have Stonehammer check you out too. Gaaah. I don't know why I do these things. Lucky for you frog, you seem like a genuine little guy. You better damn well play me a tune before this is all over."
He whistles and before long you hear the whoosh whoosh of wings, much like when Bazzt takes off or approaches. You see the man's griffon mount come flying in low to the ground, as the man springs into the air vaulting into place as the griffon swoops under him. He grabs the saddle horn and pulls out his bow and as the griffon flies into the air he points down the hillside towards a lesser used path leading roughly downriver.
Asheranthi, your giant elk freaks out, rears and is likely to bolt. Handle Animal check please. Your velociraptors are probably ok because they are vicious little monsters.
"I go by Lump." he says, though the name "Lump" was all that any made out, barring the dragoon and Karkoran.
Realizing he hadn't translated a bit of what had transpired to the others, Lump turns to them and continues in their common language.
"So, that guy is a scout, I think. He has been tailing us, and decided to intervene because we are too close to Cliffort. Anyway, he seems an amicable enough sort, and is going to lead us on a path to avoid the miners and loggers and such. He is going to try to sneak us in, under cover of night, into Cliffort and take us to his Thain, which sounds like their leader. I'm pretty sure he will put in a good word, since I was nice to him. He speaks the language of the higher planes, thankfully. Hopefully the Thain does too."
"That sounds like great news!"
"Watch out everyone!"
Ashe moves quickly to try and calm her elk pet.
Day 2 - early evening
As the rider flies up into the sky wheeling higher and higher, Asheranthi brings her spooked elk under control calming it with soft words and some food. The animal is wild and scared of griffons, particularly ones taking off suddenly, but somehow the druid is able to calm the beast. The group moves down the trail after event and through some less travelled trails. It is narrow but clear as the path does not branch off or fork. At least twice you see Hawke descend from the air to land somewhere ahead of you, and after a bit ascend into the sky again. You wonder whether he is warding off encounters with people on the trail or investigating something else.
"Maybe it's just my nature, but I'm suspicious and I feel we should be careful." Tayanalla.
"It could be that these people are more cosmopolitan than the humans and dwarves I remember, but I expected much more hostility towards us based on our heritages."
"Yeah, i think this one is only helping us because of a sense of duty coupled with justice. He didn't attack us because he found us to be less monstrous than our appearances would suggest."
Grobly will stay on the ground as the group heads out, eyeing the sky with suspicion. "We can see if the Rider is honest in his words... It will not be too hard to leave if they do not want us too." Grobly will look to Taya. "Did you see? The long shin was scared of your hair! He knew what you were. Maybe there are more out there, more Karks and more Lumps, and more Gobbos! They didn't all die long ago."
"Good point Grobly. He did have an idea about my race. He also knew to be afraid of my kind ... if the rest of them feel the same way, we could have trouble." Tayanalla says to the goblin.
"We will have to be cautious and ready at a moments notice to fight for our lives we become trapped for imprisoned."
Karkoran continues along the path. He keeps a watch out for any strange signs, and looks for tracks and other clues on the trail.
Day 2 - Evening
The party treks along for some time, the sun begins to go down and Hawke lands again ahead. You have been getting closer to the Cliffort for some time, and then descended low enough to lose sight of it under the trees. Hawke approaches and speaks in Celestial.
"Ok, I am really taking a risk on you .... 'people' here, but only because this seems so out of the ordinary. No one will believe the report I have to file if I don't present evidence and they would think I have lost my mind and relieve me of duty. I'm not one to fudge a report either, as much as I hate the damned things. Anyhow, I've taken you a circuitous route south of anywhere people will run into us at this hour. I can get you in through some back routes, and I have already signaled ahead, but this will not be easy. I need to take you in by a small boat across the lake. The boat isn't big, and it will be hard enough with a minotaur aboard. That elk, I don't see it happening. The dang thing looks skittish. It will probably jump overboard and cause a ruckus. We can't have that. The lake patrols will have their boats and lanterns on us, and then I have to explain everything to a bunch of people that aren't prepared to deal with you. I know you aren't evil, I checked, but I don't trust any of you one whit. I'm gonna keep my eye on you and if anyone tries anything suspicious, I will unleash a fury you can barely imagine. Ok, any last questions? I'm guessing you need to relay this to your fellows since most of them haven't said a peep to me."
I said secret!
"We will have to be cautious and ready at a moments notice to fight for our lives we become trapped for imprisoned."
Karkoran continues along the path. He keeps a watch out for any strange signs, and looks for tracks and other clues on the trail.
You haven't noticed anything interesting. This is an old logging trail, now probably a game trail. You see a lot of animal tracks and that is about it. It has grown back over through the years and some of the trees near the trail are younger.
Lump turns to the group, and translates. "So, he is gonna boat us across the water. He is hoping not to run into boat patrols, but if he does, he will do the explaining. The boat is too small for both Karkoran and the elk, and he doesn't seem keen on two trips. Expects the elk to leap outta the boat anyway. We will have to be really quiet as well."
"If the boat is too small, Bazzt and I can fly. Grobly points to the sky. "Or I can ride underwater!" Grobly points down. "I remembered a spell to breathe under water today." The goblin will look around his surroundings and at the longshin he cannot understand.
"If the well armored and armed Griffon rider wants to escort us into a much more armored and armed fortress, me thinks we should be sending messages back to let someones know where we are going." Grobly does not seem convinced this man is worth trusting- or if he is, Grobly has high suspicions about his superiors. Grobly does not trust much he does not know.
"Not a bad idea... to hedge our bets."
"Maybe Grobly and Bazzt could fly back and carry a message tonight ..."
"Weze could.. but you sure that smart? Grably and Bazzt can hide, but if longshins be riding griffons, dis goblin has no idea what else is nearby..."
"I can leave my elk behind, he probably won't go far, and with luck I can call him again tomorrow or the next time we are outside. I am suspicious of this place, but I believe we need to get inside and talk to people. Even if it goes bad and they take us prisoner or something, then we know we tried. They won't take us without a fight and some serious bloodshed. This is why we should stay together. We will have a chance to talk to the other groups soon enough. For all we know they are right behind us. If what we learned of the mountain area we started in is correct, pretty much everyone has to come down the same way we did. I think this means that all the other groups will come this way eventually. What do you all think?"
Ashe leads her elk into the forest a bit and quickly lets her elk be.
Day 2 - Evening
As you do your chatting, he gives you a few minutes, as Asheranthi returns after leading her elk away, he picks up again.
"It will probably be ok out here. An animal that size won't fear from any predators this close to the lake and village, except maybe hunters, but I am guessing it will take a lot of arrows to bring that beast down. Ok, lets get this show on the road."
The Marshal, hand on his sword hilt, holds out his other hand motioning the crew past him.
"Och, the smell of you guys. You will need baths before speaking to anyone, and I definitely feel like I should know why you are all covered in dried blood, but I have avoided asking until now. Probably not smart on my part."
He grumbles some more, and follows up behind the group and Asheranthi's raptors give him a curious sniff and lizardly eyeballing. The man just shakes his head and sighs.
After some time on the trail you start to hear sounds and see the lights of actual civilization. As you step from the brush, you look ahead of you. The river has widened here and flows to the east now rather than to the south. To the northeast and southeast the land rises steeply into a bowl. That bowl contains a large lake. A tall and thick wall on both sides of the river, runs to the cliff-side on the north side of the river, and on the south it stretches east out of sight in the darkness. Watch fires illuminate some of the lands outside the wall, and it looks like an old quarry, the source of the stone for the wall.
It is hard to see beyond the wall to the lake, what little you see is through the gap on the rivermouth as it opens into the lake. This mouth, where the wall separates is flanked by two huge guard towers. On the towers, humans and dwarves can be see manning various sized ballistas. Archers and crossbowmen patrol the walls and man the towers. In the darkness you can see that the cliffside with rises vertically north of the lake side has become part habitation. Edifices have been carved into and built onto the side of the cliff. Many more details are hard to see in the night with only distant lanterns to reveal things.
"Ok, ok, stop your gawking and lets go. We need to make this happen quickly. Follow, QUIETLY"
He puts his finger to his lips and says "Shhhh. He pauses and looks at the group to make sure everyone understands, and in particular eyes those with animal companions giving them an extra stern look.
He descends towards a brushy part of the river bank and makes a soft owl like noise. You see another man with similar armor and insignia, hand a long cloak to Hawke and is donning one as well. The man has a long narrow boat that he holds steady. The man's eyes widen as the monstrous crew emerges from the bushes, his mouth opens into sort of an 'O' shape but he says nothing. The boat has a variety of medium crates, plenty of canvas tarps and a few barrels. It would appear this is to be the vessel you will be smuggled in. He encourages the group to get on board and they begin to conceal you under tarps and move around some of the crates and barrels to make it seem believable.
Several 'whew' type breathes and the two men push off. You peek out from under the tarps but Hawke gives you a stern look so you try not to move. The other man steers, and Hawke lights a lantern as they approach the gap. Well before they approach he signals with a whistle of several short and long tones, which receives a response, to which he answers again. The guards manning the towers aim large mirrored metal concave reflectors down to the water to inspect the boat. Closer to water level you hear a shuttered window open and get the sense of a bull-seye lantern also inspecting the boat as it passes near the gap. A voice says something to the men on the boat, but none of you understand what is said. Hawke grunts but says nothing in return. Shortly the sound of chains and gears turning, and there is some noise in the water. The boat passes through, and the gears and gains clink and churn again, something raises to the surface of the water and the boat passes through.
Aside from that little bit of speech, Lump remains silent and observant.
As they approach the fortress Tayanalla looks it over to gauge how big it is, how many beings she sees, and any other details.
Tayanalla looks at the frogman and asks in a whisper.
"Anything the rest of ought to know?
Karkoran stays under the tarps and doesn't move. He listens to what goes on around him, but waits for a signal so the group isn't caught.
Ashe will focus most of her efforts on keeping her velociraptors calm and quiet.
Grobly and Bazzt stay cramped together, and silent. The two enjoy exploring caves, and cramped places are not too much of an issue. The goblin does keep a firebomb in one hand, of any way to capture the group, this would be by far the easiest.
The small boat passes through the gate and into the lake proper. There is very little water craft out at this hour. You also have almost no good view from under the tarps. What peeks you can sneak you see little of the lake. From what you can see, and only from distant lights, is that the entire north shore of the lake is actually a cliff that extends a hundred or maybe more feet into the air. At the base of the cliff there is enough room for a row or two of buildings and other structures, but a majority of the dwellings are build into the cliff face, or obviously carved and tunneled within.
The boat travels slowly in a northern direction. Only once does a patrol boat come near. The group freezes as Hawke exchanges words with the patrol and they are obviously familiar with him and whatever level of authority he has.
In time the boat approaches the cliffside and then under a wooden bridge like structure and then up to the cliff wall. A large heavy iron grid protects a solid wooden gate behind it. Hawke again makes a soft signal on his whistle, there is a response, and Hawke responds again.
In time the outer metal portcullis style gate creaks and groans as levers, gears, pulleys and counterweights work to raise is. After that the inner solid wooden gate is raised placing you within an a stone arched tunnel. Ahead is yet a third gate that remains closed. The gates behind you are lowered, and you hear the outer one behind that. Now you are truly trapped if you were ever to be.
You wonder how deep the water is and if you would be able to access the outside from it if you needed to. You suspect it is not likely given the paranoid level of security. You note murder holes and arrow slot in the ceiling above as well as arrow slits and larger holes in the wall. You suspect all sort of death could be rained down from above and from the sides.
After what seems far too long, the inner gate opens, and the boat passes quietly within. A small dock and stone platform illuminated by several lanterns awaits. The boat secured, Hawke and his pilot exit the boat. You aren't sure whatever happened to his griffon.
You see on the stone landing a small unit of dwarves, heavily armored with thick metal shields, heavy pikes, longspears and other polearms as well as heavy crossbows. A team aims a heavy ballista at the boat, as Hawke discusses with the unit commander.
Hawke returns to the boat and calls out in Celestial, motioning you to exit the hiding places and exit the boat. Many of the dwarves grumble loudly and utter oaths, curses and other epithets as they see you emerge. In particular Grobly gets the most foul glares. Their unit commander quickly demands order and quiet.
"Ok we have arrived. As you can see security is strong here and there are reasons why. This is a necessary precaution and you need not be alarmed that you will be taken prisoners now. This is a fort and it protects the region and the interests of those who operate here. You will be escorted under heavy guard though, and placed in quarters for the evening. In a sense you are prisoners in that you will not be allowed to move about freely, but that is merely for everyone's safety. You are not being held against your will, at least under my authority. You will be be given a place to sleep, and you definitely need to clean up before an audience with the Thain and any counselors, which will likely be tomorrow. We can provide food and clothing as it seems you have little to wear. Finding something to fit everyone may be a challenge so don't expect lavish gifts. Consider yourselves unique guests. You will be housed with your companions, as I would rather keep you together. I hope they are house trained. Any questions?"
Lump you get the distinct impression or feeling that you are being observed not just by those assembled visibly here. Your froggy skin crawls slightly as if under some sort of heavy scrutiny. Maybe it is in your mind, but perhaps you are all being scanned by divinations or the like, although you sense no mental intrusion or attempt to bypass your will.
Tayanalla steps out, trying to show courage but not to provoke anything.
With her bow slung over her back, she stands before the assembled soldiers with empty hands.
Karkoran nods and clomps heavily from the boat. He keeps his weapons unwielded, but knows they are a split second away from his hand, if the dwarves get any rude ideas. He will pay attention to all the tunnels, halls and corridors we pass, using his minotaur ability to not get lost. He will only grunt and nod at the marshal.
Standing as tall as a little frog could and proud under their veiled scrutiny, Lump slowly pulls out his mandolin and plays a bit of a bawdy tune in Celestial.
♪ There once were some dwarves, armored yet scared
of a li'l green frog and the snake-lady's hair ♫
♪ In their proud fort, well-armed as they were
their knees shook in fear of gobb and lady cur ♫
♪ "Lock up these fears in a pri-son of plush
lest they see under our helms that our cheeks are a-blush ♫
♪ For ev'ry one knows, the dwarves love the frog
and will shower him with gifts of gold and of groooooog ♫
He then looks around for signs that any of the dwarves understood what he sang.
Grobly steps out of the boat, at first tentative, but with each step his confidence grew. It was apparent how on edge the dwarves were afraid of grobly! The goblin will offer his hosts a wide, toothy grin and tuck the firebomb back away.
Grobly will look to the others to take the lead. "We have not been attacked yet. Maybe these ones know how to keep their word?"
The guards look at Lump suspiciously as he pulls out his instrument and are on alert. Perhaps a magical spell to trick them. As Lump begins singing, Marshal Hawke, raises his hand and listens to the short tune. He appears to be stifling a grin.
"Your debt is repaid frogman. A most intriguing tune."
He says something to the Dwarves, none of who appeared to understand the song. It seems to be something along the lines oh he will explain later, and they seem satisfied.
Soon enough, with guards in the front and back, and Marshal Hawke bringing up the rear, you are escorted into the fortress proper. The first door is solid iron, but nearly every door is heavy thick wood, reinforced with iron bands. At least three to four of them all require keys as the Dwarf Commander unlocks them in turn and relocks them after the group passes through. The group passes no other inhabitants of the fortress. The halls are narrow in some cases and Karkoran is scarcely able to fit without hunkering down low and moving slowly. Most cases they are wide and tall enough that the minotaur merely has to hunch slightly. It would seem that many of them are meant for transporting supplies efficiently, otherwise they would not be so generously sized. Most of the halls are dark, although the dwarves have brought torches.
Eventually you climb several sets of stairs and reach a solid metal door again. The Dwarven Commander opens the door with his keys and leads the group within. The room has already been set up for sleeping. A bed has been moved in and set for each person. In Karkoran's case, three beds have been moved in. Straw has been places in the corners for the animal companions who have been a bit stircrazy already. A screen is in one corner of the room with a washing basin and a barrel of water. Food, in the form of fish, , cheeses, breads and some casks of what must be cider, sit on a table. It seems this room is typically a secure store room, and some empty crates are still here. Several chamber pots are stacked by the door. Some clothing has been laid on the beds. Mostly, they are simple white robes. They seem to fit either human or dwarven frames. On the large bed the garment appears to be more of a kilt, perhaps hastily modified.
"These will be your quarters for the evening. Sentries will be placed at the door of course and along the halls in many directions. You may have capabilities, skills, talents or the strength to break out, but I trust and suspect that you will not. If your story is true you would not do such a thing. If you are intruders or assassins of a sort, and I am already assured you are not, well, we have already spoken before of the consequences. If you require anything during the night, ask a guard. Good Evening."
You are all led inside and the door is locked behind you. You hear most of the party outside leave after a short conversation between the dwarven commander and the guards. Then it is quiet. At times you hear the guards outside shift or breathing, but they don't say anything.
After the dwarves leave, Ashe will guide her raptors into the room and have them stay within. She will flop on the bed and enjoy it briefly before addressing the others "Well, here we are and we are still alive. This appears to be going well."
Lump looks at the clothes to see if anything fits him, but he imagines that will be one thing that doesn't go his way just yet.
"They didn't even take my measurements..."
Grobly will circle the room, rifle through a few of the containers and sniff the clothes before grabbing an armful of straw and a blanket to make a little nesting bed for Bazzt and himself. The bat however will move towards the fruits with great interest, sniffing them cautiously before finding a choice morsel to begin to nibble on. "Not much to do now but wait. I do not want to be sneaking around this place... To many bearded longshins."
Taya tries on a white robe.
She listens at the door to see if she can learn anything.
"Anyone got any idea why they've got us here?" she asks.
"I suspect no regular chamber can fit all of us, plus animals. Also they want us off the beaten path, hidden away probably, for whatever they plan for us. The less people who know about us, the less questions if things don't go well. My guess is, if they wanted us dead they could have attempted it in multiple ways many times over. They will try to see if they have a use for us. Which is fine by me, we can trade our skills for equipment, maps, world history, and other services. They don't have to like us, but if we can show what we can do for them, I bet they will not turn us out unless we do something to anger them or offend them. They will never treat as one of them, to the point where we can walk the streets and have people give us a hello good morning, but frankly I don't care about that. We are here to save our mentor."
Karkoran uses some of the water to clean and rinse himself, but doesn't bother with the clothing they gave him. He eats the smoked venison instead of the food they supplied in case its poisoned. He checks his weapons, extract book, spell and extract pouches, and rests on the bed. He carries several of the largest empty crates and stacks them in front of the door.
Having given up on the clothes, Lump walks up to the wash basin and wipes the grime off of his amphibian skin.
"One day, if we stay here, they'll beg me to walk the streets. If we even stay here, that is. Maybe the human settlement is nicer."
The group settles in for the evening. Resting and chatting, you decide to sleep eventually since there is little else to do, and you were not told when someone would retrieve you in the morning.
"I think we should all get some rest." Tayanalla says.
"It would be wise though for use to not be caught unawares. I'll sit up and take the first watch."
"I'll wake Ash, who can wake Grobly, who can wake Karkoran, who can wake Lump .... sound good to everyone?" Taya asks.
Grobly will nod and promptly fall back onto his make-shift nest and fall asleep. Bazzt will take his fruit to the nest, circle it doggishly, then curl up around the goblin, nibbling on his fruit.