Mo and his opposable thumbs, I knew they would come in handy. Tomorbataar gazes at the mighty hands of the giant with envy. If only I could learn to write in a clean way, that doesn't send saliva everywhere...
You travel until nightfall, sleep, and then get up the next morning without incident.
However, you've now eaten all of the food Moe was carrying (thank Hungry), and you're feeling a bit peckish in the morning.
Tomorbataar looks around as the day dawns, yawing to himself. I suppose we'd better start to look after some of our provisions for the moment, since it seems we won't be fed by any humans for a good while. I shall keep eyes for any decent food...and we may wish to send Moe off. Tomorbataar pauses before suggesting they send Moe, and shoots a glance at the giant as he does.
"Yes Mo, go find us some food."Ziphora is all too happy to order Mo around.
Ziphora, mean while, also tries to look for edibles.
"Urgh this is a sorry state of affairs..."
"I really hope Mo's going to find something..."
Hungry yawns and stretches. To himself, "Time for food." He looks to his left. He looks to his right. He sniffs around the sleeping area. "This is a travesty!!! We must find food now or I'll DIE OF STARVATION!!"
"What?! No. We shouldn't rely on Mo to find our food for Hungry to eat! We are a mighty predator BEAST! We don't rely on others to supply our own needs! (Unless it is the result of an advantageous exchange of good or services.) No, my friends! Today...
WE HUNT!"
Beachhead also votes that we go hunt.
Hungry, urged on by his ravenous desire for food, manages to catch a whiff of something as he sniffs around, and notices a hint of a track. Following it, you travel for several minutes to a stream. Looking upstream, you see a very large bear... just as it sees you.
Only three words come to Hungry's mind and lips as he sees the delicious meat sack standing on the streambank in front of him, saliva flowing out of his slack jaw, "".
"I'm sorry. But we're really hungry. And hydras gotta eat." Ziphora delivers an empowered lightning blast to the bear, hoping that it will be a swift kill.
Beachhead hides while silently urging the body to keep moving towards their target, hoping the entire time that the bear is still alive by the time the heads arrive so that he can swiftly strike by striking swiftly.
Hothead decides against fireballing the bear. After all, the point is to have something left to eat as well, isn't it? If the bear survives Hungry's and Zip's battering then he could just use his breath weapon once they're closer to the beast.
Tomorbataar urges the body forward, preparing to hit the bear in the head with his head.
Hungry's fire and Ziphora's lightning don't kill the bear immediately, but leave it dazed and burned... dazed enough that it doesn't start running soon enough as you charge at it. Hothead's breath frosts its burns right before Tomorbataar bashes it on the head. Beachhead then appears with his teeth around its neck, and soon the bear stops its weak struggling.
In addition to a large (dead) grizzly bear, you notice there are also berry bushes here.
Ziphora noms on the berries.
Beachhead likes the idea of having someone to eat for him. He'll keep watch on their surroundings while the others eat.
"Mo! Butcher the bear and start up a fire. We're going to have smoked bear flank!"
After Mo butchers the bear, and starts the fire, Ziphora uproots some of the berry bushes to use as fuel for the fire.
She takes a bite out of the smoked bear flank. "I think we needed some rosemary..."
Tomorbataar supervises the fire lighting, Yes Moe, you can listen to Zip. He watches the meat cook intently, eating a few bites carefully and daintily while the others set in.
I suppose we should be on again after we finish with the bear and the berries, wouldn't want to be late. Tomorbataar looks down momentarily, as though he's checking a watch, then back up. Hmm...I should get a time device, for more perfect synchronization.
Tomorbataar votes to move on soon after they finish the bear.
Tomorbataar votes to move on soon after they finish the bear.
Same.
"Time device? Pfft" Hothead snorts. "Just look the time from the sun! I'll show you how!"
"See? If you look at that shadow from the tree, you can cleary tell that it's Thursday!"
Ziphora's cooking isn't bad, but it's nothing special. Mo happily helps out, though that's probably because he's eating some of it, too. It's a big bear, but even so you've eaten most of it by the time that all of you except Hungry think you've had enough. Mo puts what's left in the crate that formerly held the smoked meats from the bugbears.
You travel on for several hours, the land starting to grow more hilly as you draw nearer the mountains. You crest one rise and come out into a clearing, with a good view of the mountains ahead. Looking at them you can make out one whose peak does vaguely look like a giant claw.
You crest one rise and come out into a clearing, with a good view of the mountains ahead. Looking at them you can make out one whose peak does vaguely look like a giant claw.
Hmm... Tomorbataar looks out at the mountains ahead, trying to size them up. Yeah, we could get there, no question about it. The real problem will be fighting those things, they're huge!
Hungry laughs. "Tom, those are inanimate mountains, you can't fight them. You can fight things that live in and on them, though. Hmm... I wonder if there are any onyx veins in the mountains?"
"We don't have to climb it. Just reach where its shadow reaches at sunset. And we have to look for a 'wedge stone.' And the guy writing the tablet didn't seem fit to mention the season, so maybe that doesn't matter. And maybe this scepter has been dug up already."
In...in Tomorbataar sputters for a second, in, in-in-inanimate objects? I knew that...yeah...just big rocks... Tomorbataar glares at the mountains, I wonder how I'd trip them...no, they're not going to move...not going to move. Still, he seems a bit jumpy, and smiles at the chance to fight the inhabitants of the claw mountain. I suppose if we journey to their feet...uh...to the base, then we can camp for the night and look around the all next day in the shadow of their heads-beaks...peaks.
"What wedge stone?" Ziphora summons Pacem, then gets him to do a little snoop of the surroundings.
Pacem looks around to see what he can see.
Pacem notes that there aren't any large rocks in the immediate area.
Pacem notes that there aren't any large rocks in the immediate area.
"What wedge stone?"
"It was on the tablet. We don't really know what it is, but hopefully we'll know it when we see it. It 'points the way.'"
Beachhead votes to get moving towards the east side of the cliff that looks like a claw.
Yes, some sort of large, wedge shaped stone should be somewhere in the mountain's shadow. We'd best hurry up, maybe we can find it before nightfall.
Tomorbataar votes to move towards the east face of the claw peak.
"I suppose you know brst. But what if we have to climb the mountain? Can hydras climb?" Ziphora voices her misgivings.
Vote to move towards east face of claw peak.
"This way!" Ziphora yells enthusiastically.
With Pacem's help, you're able to steer roughly where you want to. The sun is getting low in the sky as you come into another clearing, seeing the Claw Peak closer, though still somewhat distant. As the sun gets lower, you see it's coming down just off to the side of the 'claw' on the peak. Its shadow creeps towards you, then over you as time passes.
Not seeing the big stone mentioned in the tablet anywhere, Hothead starts scanning the area around him for any magical auras. If nothing else, at least it'll make him feel like he's doing something useful.
Tomorbataar keeps his head about him, examining the ground for any prints that look like they come from a human, lizardfolk, or other two legged creature.
Neither Hothead nor Tomorbataar turns up anything. It's starting to get dark here as the shadow of Claw Peak envelops you.