Damecus told us that if we intended to make this journey, we would need to get some supplies. He took us to the outskirts of his village, which took several hours to get to. Damecus had kept Tadwick wrapped in the blanket the entire journey to keep his skin out of the sun. The sun is very intense here and there was no shade for most of the journey. Apparently last night was an anomaly, it rarely rains here, but when it does, it comes down hard.
The village was surrounded by a large wooden spike wall, many of these spikes had skulls on them. The whole place stank of blood and shit. Lizardmen bodies generally don’t smell… but fucking hell… you can smell their shit from a mile away. Not the most welcoming place that I can think of.
I had never seen lizardmen with scales of any colour other than green before. But the guards at the entrance were purple and blue. The purple one carries a bow, but I can’t see any arrows… which is a tad bewildering. Damecus could not enter the village due to his weird ritual thing, so he stayed in a nearby cave and sent us on ahead with a message for those on the gate as well as a list of supplies that we needed to pick up.
I do not trust this plan. Kiyui has complete faith in this guy… but Kiyui trusts far too easily. I’ve got this horrible feeling that this whole situation is going to go very wrong.
The four of us arrived at the gate. Damecus had removed the blanket from Tadwick and sent him with us as he said having a visible child would likely garner some sympathy. Kiyui took off his shawl and made it into a kind of hooded cloak thing to keep the sun off Tadwick a little bit, which Tadwick seemed highly amused by. He was running around in his little cape, pretending to be a knight.
It amazes me how even in terrible situations, children will somehow find something fun to do. He is so far away from home… with a bunch of people he barely knows… and still… he flounces about wafting a stick around like a sword. He is quite a sweet little thing. It makes me worry about what we are even returning him to. Everyone else from that orphanage is dead. Does he even realise that? Should we be explaining that to him? Or do we get through this journey first? Urgh… I have no idea how to deal with kids.
As we approached the gate, the guards looked uneasy… I doubt they were used to being approached by a group like us. Damecus had warned us that they would likely not be very trusting of a goblin, so I was instructed to say as little as possible and pretend to be a trained slave who was there to carry the bags.
Which doesn’t make much sense to me as an excuse… goblins aren’t exactly known for their strength… if you were going to enslave one, you wouldn’t use it to carry the bags. Then again… Phoenix can’t use one of her arms… Kiyui isn’t exactly gifted with strength… and Tadwick is a small child… thinking about it… I am probably the strongest physically in this group… now that’s a worrying thought.
Purple Guard: “Halt! Identify yourselves.”
Kiyui bowed in that odd way that he does.
Kiyui: “I am Kiyui Kintari.”
Phoenix: “Phoenix.”
Tadwick jumped in front of them and stood with one hand on his hip thrusting his stick up in the air.
Tadwick: “I am Sir Featherstone the purple!”
The guards laughed. At least this kid’s confidence does not seem to have been damaged by recent events. They then looked at me and the mirth left their faces.
Blue Guard: “And why is that here?”
Phoenix: “To carry the bags. Fear not, he is well trained.”
The guards did not look convinced.
Kiyui: “We are acquaintances of Damecus, son of Herius. He gave us this note to give to you.”
The purple guard took the note out of Kiyui’s hand and studied it. He then handed it to the other guard and shouted loudly.
Purple Guard: “Nomius! It’s for you!”
Suddenly this enormous creature materialised next to me… it made me jump back. He was easily nine foot tall… he had red scales… multiple throwing axes attached to his belt and a battleaxe in his hand that he held in a threatening manner in my direction. He had a huge scar on his throat… as if it had been bitten by a wild animal or something.
He didn’t take his eyes off me and held out his left hand for the note to be passed to him.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Tadwick: “That was so cool! How did you do that?”
Purple Guard: “You people do not know much about lizardmen, do you?”
Kiyui: “Alas, no. We are from across the Uddin Sea. We have only ever encountered green lizardmen before.”
Purple Guard: “Ah… Dominus’ clan.”
Blue Guard: “What a prick.”
Purple Guard: “Well, fear not. The sawtooth clan is nothing like those savages. You may pass safely through this village.”
Blue Guard: “Unless you give us reason to be hostile.”
Kiyui: “We won’t, you have my word.”
Kiyui bowed again. The large red lizardman, that I assume is Nomius, walked through the gate clutching the note. He gestured for us to follow him. We walked through the village to what I’m guessing was a dwelling of some description.
The village was mostly little shacks… certainly nowhere near the buildings that I was used to from Kataravonia. Everything here is made of wood… which doesn’t strike me as safe… all it would take is some fire and this entire village would burn. That being said… the buildings all seemed solid and well put together. Other than the difference in style, the village was surprisingly similar to most villages that I have seen. Markets… people walking around… talking, going about their days doing jobs. I was expecting to find a village of savage violence. Clearly the lizardmen that have crossed the Uddin Sea are the more confrontational ones. These ones seem quite civilised.
Tadwick: “Look!”
Tadwick was pointing over at a couple of lizardmen boys playfighting. I guess the lizardmen have the same attitude to clothes as goblins. No point in children wearing them, unless it’s cold, obviously. The adults only wear them for practical purposes. Mostly just utility belts for holding tools or wearing armour, if you require it for combat.
Tadwick: “That boy has two willies!
Dwynfel: “What?”
Tadwick: “So does that one!”
Oh gods… I had forgotten about that. That was in my monster almanac.
Kiyui: “He’s right.”
Phoenix rolled her eyes.
Dwynfel: “All male lizardmen do.”
Tadwick: “Really?”
Dwynfel: “Really.”
Tadwick: “Why?”
Dwynfel: “I have no idea… they just do.”
Tadwick: “I’m gonna ask the red guy!”
Dwynfel: “Tadwick… I don’t think he can talk… his throat looks damaged.”
Tadwick: “I can ask those boys over there.”
Kiyui: “Tadpole… honey… it would be best if we didn’t draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves for now. Let’s just stay here and wait for Nomius to finish getting our supplies.”
Thank the gods… the last thing we need is more attention. I can feel enough eyes on me as it is. These lizardmen clearly do not trust goblins. Then again… I don’t trust them either… so the feeling is mutual.
That being said… the kid has a point… what is the point of having two? Do the females have two vaginas? The book I read only spoke of the males… it had no information on the females. Two vaginas would make the most sense. I do wonder how they work… but now really is not the time to be asking these questions.
Tadwivck: “Where are the lady lizards?”
Kiyui: “I think there is one over there.”
Dwynfel: “How can you tell?”
Kiyui: “Hip structure.”
Tadwick: “But she’s not got boobs.”
Dwynfel: “Not all females have big breasts, Tadwick.”
Tadwick: “But nobody has boobs in this whole village
Dwynfel: “Let’s just add this to the list of things that you can ask Damecus later.”
Tadwick sighed with disappointment, but appeared to listen. Nomius emerged from the dwelling and handed me some bags to carry. He kept some heavy looking bags and carried those himself. He then walked off towards the market. We went to follow him but he gestured for us to wait.
I had a look in the bag and saw that it was mostly camping supplies… as well as a jar of something called ‘Shalnak Paste’… which I have never heard of before.
Dwynfel: “Anybody know what Shalnack paste is?”
Phoenix: “No.”
Kiyui: “Afraid not.”
Tadwick: “Is it tasty?”
I looked at the jar containing an ominous white substance.
Dwynfel: “I have no idea… but I don’t think we should be putting it in our mouths.”
Tadwick: “Aww… Are we gonna eat soon?”
Kiyui: “I’m sure we’ll be able to eat soon. Once we are finished at the market.
Tadwick: “Urgh, waiting around is boring.”
Phoenix: “Be glad, child. Better this is boring than the alternative.”
Tadwick: “What do you mean?”
Kiyui: “She means that we don’t want to do anything exciting but silly and risk not being able to have any food later, right Phoenix.”
Phoenix: “Sure… that.”
Kiyui is surprisingly good with kids. He knows how to keep Tadwick calm and collected while avoiding scaring him. I feel like if we didn’t have him, Phoenix would be terrifying the poor boy into compliance. Given what the kid has been through already… it is probably best to avoid terrifying him with the realisation that is we piss these guys off they will likely kill and eat us all.
Nomius returned, handed another bag to me, and handed a lighter bag to Kiyui. He then escorted us to the gates and gestured for us to leave. We began to walk back to the cave where Damecus was waiting. That went surprisingly smoothly… it makes me highly suspicious.
Similar to my attempt to create an image of Damecus, the AI programme really struggled with the scar and eventually I gave up. The scar on his throat should look like it was previously ripped out by a wild animal. It should not look like a slashing wound.
