"Owww!"Ziphora shrieks."Stop that, Blockhead, you moron, you're hurting us all!" She snarls at Blockhead."You blithering idiot, did you think what would happen if our legs didn't grow back?" She continues relentlessly,"We'd be stuck here, unable to hunt, and we'd all starve. Is that what you want? For us to die a slow death of starvation?" Ziphora begins to cackle with energy as she gathers electricity from all around her.
I mean, I can probably put the leg back on, but I shouldn't have to ya know Block? We need to settle in for the night and stop eating each other. Cannibalism's a last resort thing, we taste weird, ya know. Like sulfer and chicken. But, soft? Dru-head relays his first-hand sounding experience, trying to reason things out now that the tensions have grown.
"Weird, I've heard we taste like ladyfingers. Just like ladyfingers," Hothead says offhandedly. "Not sure if I've ever eaten ladyfingers before, so I can't really verify it though."
Hothead votes to sleep under the beautiful night sky.
Yes Blockhead, please stop that, let's eat something else instead, Tomorbataar says, inspecting the skin in which the meat has been carried.
Perhaps if we set the skin above the fire, it'll cook slowly and all at once? Then it will be clean and not attract so many flies, and we can eat it later. Tomorbataar says, retracting his head.
Sulfur? You mean like...the thing that can make acid? Acid seems good and pure and clean enough...I'd like a bite.
Blockhead sees everyones response and realizes it isnt what he was hoping for so he stops.
I dunno, we seemed to taste like sweat an old socks... Tangy!
Blockhead then goes over to the meat being offered by Mo and helps to set up a fire (moreso by getting wood for it, leave the Burnin to the professionals!) and later, when it is cooked, he takes a portion and eats it.
Mmmm. Gorge's-Bro does taste good, thanks Mo!
Acid probably goes down the throat smooth and savory. Ya Id like some o that as well!
Blockhead also looks at the neat little sack that Mo has with him
Neat! howdya make that?
"Don't ever do something like that again."Ziphora warns him in an icy tone as she releases the lightning in a blast, creating a small, blackened crater on the ground.
"I should hope we don't taste like ladyfingers."Ziphora snaps at Hothead. "Or old socks."She glares at Blockhead. "Now scoot, the rest of you while I get to business."She shoos the other heads away from the fire.
The hot meal tasted suprsingly good despite Ziphora's stormy mood. After she finishes her dinner, she contemplates the distant night sky before settling down for a snooze.
Snooze. Vote Snooze.
Dru-head goes closer to the fire.
And helps cook. With flaming hydra magic. He very carefully places a Flaming Sphere a safe distance from "scared-of-a-little-third-degree-burn-and-possible-death scaredy head" Hothead, and keeps it near the food.
Vote snooze, 4186.
After another surprisingly delicious meal, you settle down for the night and soon are asleep. Nothing bothers your little group overnight, for some odd reason (possibly the scary monster sleeping in the middle of it).
The next day dawns cool and windy, with dark clouds building in the sky. Rorl frowns as he looks upward.
"Good thing we'll be under trees most of the rest of the way," he comments, doubtfully.
Hungry wakes up after exactly 8 hours, not a minute more or less, and begins to prepare his spells. Feeling the rumble in his stomach Hungry looks around for food scraps from the night before and begins to gnaw on his bone wand.
Oh... Tomorbataar exclaims, I want socks. Maybe we can all have socks, all different colors? Tomorbataar looks at Rorl when he asks this, hoping that they've performed sufficient services for socks.
After sleeping, Tomorbataar rests his head in the ashes of the fire, Tomorbataar wakes up to the scent before rain. Oh boy, rain's great, it'll wash us all off. If it's not too far, maybe we can just eat when we get to the lizards? Tomorbataar again looks at Rorl. Otherwise we'd better find something to eat.
Tomorbataar votes to look around for some food unless they're close enough to the lizards, in which case he votes to look around for some lizards.
Rorl is not quite sure what to make of the idea of hydra socks. "Ummm... that's the captain's call, not mine."
************************
Rorl shakes his head. "It's almost another day's journey to the spot the lizardfolk said to meet at."
"Oh!" Mo, who had been slowly getting up, jumps up at this point. "I go find food!"
He immediately goes charging off to find food.
Hungry doesn't see anything in the immediate area that looks edible other than Mo and Rorl.
"Rain...there's potential in there. I mean it'd be uncomfortable for the rest..but..."She looks at the sky contemplatively. Lets go find food. Vegetables are a good idea, as we'll need to eat stuff raw. No one can start a fire in this weather. Except magical ones. But your magic fire didn't last too long, did it, Dru?"
Vote to find salad.
Hothead doesn't say much, being preoccupied with whistling softly to himself and thinking happy thought about the rain that'll come and wash all this scum off the streets make the forest a bit less likely to spontaneously catch fire.
You hunt around for a while as Mo goes charging off. After several minutes, you find some bushes with berries on them that you're pretty sure are edible, as well as a few other small edible plants. No meat to speak of, though.
Ziphora happily helps herself to the berries. "Berries! Slurpee!" She says cheerfully as she chows down on them.
"Guys, guys! I found food. Try these berries, they're really good!" She bubbles. Then she starts chewing up the small plants.
But...but...you're not the quartermaster. Tomorbataar says the words with an atypically low level of conviction, eyeing the berries as he does. After a moment he takes a bite. I suppose we must sustain ourselves while we wait for nourishment, Tomorbataar sighs. We'll have to just take some food from the lizards as well, otherwise we'll be hungry on the way back... Tomorbataar trails off, torn between his desire to eat more and his desire to retain the hierarchy of food service.
"Who cares! I'm hungry and I'm eating now. If Mo brings food we can eat what he brings as well. I'm hungry enough to eat a house!"
Rorl shudders involuntarily. "You... wouldn't actually do that, would you? Eat a house?" He seems uncertain about this.
You're able to eat enough to... not exactly get you full, but at least enough that your belly isn't grumbling any more.
"Well if it was made out of gingerbread and candy...like those stories, hell yeah! Otherwise, not really, it was just an expression."Ziphora adds as an afterthought. "Sorry if you were expecting more."She looks at Rorl to see if she's dissappointed him in any way.
"Ah, no, actually I was hoping you were joking," Rorl says, relieved.
There's still no sign of Mo returning.
Blockhead sees the berries and gives a "Oooh colorful!" before thinking If Zip likes them, they must be good.
He then thrusts his head into the bushes as they pass them by, coming back with mouthfuls of branches, leaves and thorns (and scant few berries).
Mmph. So this is what salad tastes like. Crunchy.
A house tho, THAT would be quite tasty! I thinks they are made of wood, so that must mean they are vegitarian as well! I wonder where we could find one of those...
Blockhead has eaten logs before, so...
And then in response to Rorl.
Yup! Absolutely.
Nope. Defenately not.
Now a GAZEBO... them things are scary. ≥_≥
Blockhead then spends a large portion of the rest of the trip picking up random objects and asking Zip if they are vegitarian or not. (getting some right, some not. And probably being annoying)
"Where's Mo? Wasn't he supposed to be back with our brunch?"Ziphora pouts. "Let's go find him, he might gotten lost or something."
Ziphora isn't bothered by Blockhead's weird eating habits. One man's hydra's meat is one man's hydra's poison afterall.
Vote to look for Mo.
Find Mo? Blockhead gets instantly sidetracked. I can find Mo!
Blockhead then immedeately jams his head to the ground and begins sniffing.
If he finds the trail Blockhead will attempt to yank the body in that direction.
*Munch, munch* "You know, these... "berries" don't taste bad at all," Hothead concedes. "It's just that they are, well, small. A nice little snack, but I would hope that Mo has found something a bit more substantial."
Vote to find Mo as well.
Depends on the house, Tomorbataar says, in response to Rorl. If it were made of meat and berries, then perhaps. We really do need to find our quartermaster, though, he'll be around here somewhere...
Tomorbataar votes to look for Mo.
Rorl sighs quietly as you again go charging off. "Never get there at this rate," he mutters to himself as he follows.
Finding Mo involves first going back to where he left, then following his trail. He's not particularly hard to follow... but he is much faster than you. Fortunately, he was headed in roughly the direction you wanted to go anyway.
After about an hour, you hear soft footfalls, and soon enough you see Mo jogging back towards you, a headless boar slung over his shoulder. "I find food!" he proudly proclaims as he sees you.
"Rorl, Mo is our friend. If he's gotten himself into trouble, we need to help him."Ziphora explains.
"You're AWESOME Mo!"Ziphora exclaims as she curls her head around him."We were so worried you got lost or something, we came to find you." Then she turns to the other heads. "Let's get cooking, shall we? Blockhead, do you have any twigs with you?"
Indeed, perhaps we should set up a long-ranged communication system... Tomorbataar turns to Hothead and Hungry, is there magic for that?
In any case, time for lunch, then we can walk down to the lizards at our leisure, let's hope we can get this cooked before the rain.
Tomorbataar votes to look for sticks.
Mo! I finds ya! Blockhead goes up to Mo and (instead of attacking him) gives him a big lick.
See? Tolds ya I could.
Blockhead then listens to Tom
Long range? he shouts at the top of his lungs
Ohh! I can help with firewood! he then proceeds to start bashing some trees down to make firewood .
"Yay, Blockhead!" Ziphora replies. "Start the fire, Mo, and lets get cooking."
Ziphora takes a bite, and then winces and gulps it down as if she just had something really bad. "Uh maybe wild boar isn't a specialty of mine..."
Mo seems rather surprised by Ziphora and Blockhead's response, but he starts to grin... until he winces at Blockhead yelling.
Between you and Mo, it doesn't take long to gather wood, and before long the fire is burning hot. Unfortunately, Ziphora accidentally drops the boar in the fire, resulting in it getting rather burned on the outside before you figure out a way to dig it out.
With your belly now somewhat full, you continue on for a few hours. The sun is already well on its way towards the horizon by the time you reach swampy territory. You don't think you've ever been to this part of the swamp before, but still, the marshy ground and pools of water seem very familiar.
Not long after entering the swamp, however, a lizardman burst from the water a little ways ahead of you.
"Aiiieeee!" He cries, obviously distressed. "What are you doing, human? You'll lead it right to our village!"
"Lizards, calm down, we're here for the conclave of the mighty. Sir Gyrad Tolgrith sent us, we come in peace." Ziphora announces in her most unthreatening voice.
"You know, the one mentioned by Chief Kassmak of the Turessk Tribe. We're representatives of Fort Thorn."
"I'm just here to guide them. They have agreed to speak for us," Rorl says, nodding at Ziphora.
It's clear the lizardman didn't expect this response. You can almost see his mental gears spinning as he tries to decide what to do.
"Then... I will tell Chief Kassmak you are here," he finally says, "Wait here please. I will come back when I know what he says."
Without waiting for a response, the lizardman dives back into the water and disappears.
Well alright, we're friends again. Now we just have to see if Mo got himself eaten yet. Ah ha! It is the other thing that will be eaten. Good work Mo. Dru-head keeps quiet, mostly running himself an inner monologue on the way to the lizards.
HEY. You. He looks directly into the water.
Mind your business.
"I See you!"Ziphora remarks cheerfully at the lizards hiding in the water. "There's no need to hide, we're friendly! We could be talking and sharing cooking recipies!"
Gah! That sure was loud...potentially useful...but...you needn't be so...painful, when you shout, right? Tomorbataar squints back at blockhead, wincing anticipatively.
This boar is good, Zip, your best yet. Nice and black...tastes a little grainy, but at least there's no juice.
What are you guys talking about? Is there something there? Hey, you! Tomorbaar shouts, looking directly at a tree several feet from the water, come out where I can see you!
"You have weied taste, Tom. You tried eating charcoal yet?" She asks Tom sarcastically.
"Oh oh maybe the Lizards are trying to play hide and seek with us. They're hiding in the water. I'll tap them all, they become IT, then it'll be our turn to hide!"
Vote to move into water to tap lizards. Hide and seek!
One of the lizardfolk cautiously stands up slightly out of the water.
"It is okay," she says, her Common heavily accented. "We see from here, yes? Is okay, just watch."
Well...don't you have some duties to be attending? Everything must be in its place for our important visit, after all.
Tomorbataar votes to wait still.
"Well, maybe they're having a day off. There's more to life than just duty and toil, you know," Hothead says to Tomotbataar. "Watch all that you want, I know that Hydras as handsome as we are aren't everywhere."
Vote to wait here
The moment Dru-head sees the interpreter the collective Hydra heart (or at least one of them) skips a beat.
Oh! I uhh, you can come over if you want I-I guess. You-you don't have to though.
"Oh, we're not playing hide and seek?" Ziphora sounds crestfallen. "But it'd be such fun!"
"Do you like watching us? Are we interesting? "She enquires at the lizard speaking common.
More to life than toil, perhaps, but you're wrong about duty, Tomorbataar explains, looking over Hothead. After all, how many ways are there for people to do things far away? Or in lots of places at once?
Ziphora tries to dance to entertain the watching lizards.
"Yes yes, interesting, yes," the lizard agrees. They seem mildly confused by Ziphora's bobbing about.
They continue to watch you for some time as you wait. Finally, a group of lizardfolk comes into view in the distance. One of them is particularly large, and wears an assortment of teeth and feathers on several necklaces.
"I apologize you wait long," the big lizardman says, spreading his arms. "I did not know you come, and other meeting place is small. Is better that we meet here with you. Come, we will talk."
He gestures, and his attendants lay out several mats on the ground, including one for Rorl. The lizardfolk take their seats, and Rorl, looking a bit doubtful, does likewise.
"Now, let us begin!" He proclaims once all are settled. "I am Chief Kassmak of Turessk Tribe. We live in these swamps many generations, since before soft-skins' ancestors build old road. We see you," he points at you, though not at any head in particular, "In swamp sometimes, too. So we ask, how you and soft-skins come to work together?"