Campaign Log: Confessions of a Forked Tongue

[coronatiger]

12th of Mitra’s First Month, year 413

O Ashtar, Mother of Snakes, Keeper of Death’s Door, hear my confession!

Your gifts alerted me when someone entered the tent. I lay still, eyes closed so as not to tip off the intruder while I took in their scent and read their intentions. The intruder knelt beside me and leaned in, and I lunged. A spike of fear shot through the invader’s emotions as I grappled them to the ground, but it dissipated quickly. My naked flesh was hardly terror-inducing, and as I was leaning over to pin their arms above their head, I was literally dangling my breasts in their face. If arousal hadn’t already been thick in the air, it certainly was now. I watched with amusement as my captive squirmed to break free. “Will you kiss me, already?” Yana whispered impatiently. I was more than happy to oblige her.

As much as I wanted to have fun times with Yana, I couldn’t afford to leave the camp unguarded. Before her questing hand reached its destination and swept away my willpower, I broke off the delightful kiss and sought refuge in dressing. Yana sighed and reported that Grogg still hadn’t fallen asleep, but everyone else had, and the night was quiet. I gave her a last peck on the cheek and darted outside.

Grogg was staring up at the canopy above. “Seventy-three, seventy-four, sixty-nine, seventy …” I could just barely hear him muttering to himself as I passed on my way to patrol the camp’s perimeter. Was Grogg trying to count something? Sheep perhaps? Maybe Wolfram had told him to do that. Counting sheep is a known remedy for humans who can’t sleep, but I wasn’t hopeful it would work for a troll. As a race, they struggle to make sense of numbers, so what Wolfram might deem a simple, boring task, clearly demanded more brainpower from Grogg than he possessed to keep the numbers straight.

Wolfram woke at the crack of dawn, and he seemed well rested, so I must have misjudged how much sleep he needed. He asked how the watch had gone. I told him nothing had happened, but there was a large bird perched on a branch over there that I suspected was the shapeshifter. I hadn’t wanted to leave the camp to check, and the bird was just a little too far away for me to recognize positively. Wolfram thought we should wake the others and get going. “I’ll wake Yana,” I said. “Can you wake the others?”

When Yana and I emerged from our tent, Wolfram pointed out that two men stood a ways into the jungle, apparently talking to each other. He suggested Xipil went to spy on them, but Xipil didn’t want to, so Wolfram said he would go instead. I had little faith in Wolfram’s ability to sneak up on anyone, but I said that whoever went should be able to understand Arani. It was hardly likely that the men were speaking Common.

While we debated, Kanku came strolling from the direction of the two men. Wolfram waved at him with a friendly smile, and the large lizard man waved back. When he reached us, Kanku regarded each of us in turn. He thought we were going to accomplish something, he said, but Wolfram waved it off with a comment that we were adventurers; of course we’d accomplish something!

Kanku was very curious about what happened at Samora’s place, and he seemed willing to buy that information from us with information of his own. I was proud of my friends for stonewalling him through all his attempts at fishing. Kanku wanted us to stay away from all Mogs and anything that reeked of politics, and I told him that was no problem. I said our plan was to meet up with some friends in Anabel, and then we would leave for home.

Xipil invited Kanku to share our breakfast but watched with horror as Kanku partook in the meat. Realizing he couldn’t get anything out of us, Kanku transformed into a big cat and loped off. Xipil called after him in the lizard tongue, making him stop and turn for a moment, but then Kanku and his escort vanished into the jungle.

Wolfram said he felt bad about me killing the old, sick man in the plague demon’s temple, because it was Kanku who had sent him there. That made no sense to me. Kanku’s scheme to keep the demon contained by offering human sacrifices was a bad one. If he couldn’t kill the demon himself, Kanku shouldn’t begrudge us for doing it. It almost felt like Kanku was in league with the plague demon, or at least meant to use it to further his own agenda.

We finished breakfast, packed up and left. I sat behind Yana on Wolfram’s back, holding her steady so she could sleep. A bird followed far behind; on the open plains, it didn’t have to stay close to watch where we went. Xipil said it was another bird than the shapeshifter we met before we entered Samora’s caves. The way it persisted in following, it was obvious it too was a shapeshifter.

Yana developed a twinge in her back and was unable to sleep. I decided I wasn’t going to try sleeping while we traveled despite having slept fairly well on Wolfram’s back before, but at the time I had been wrapped up in ropes to hold me in place.

Grogg began to slow down around midday, and we stopped to discuss what to do about it. Wolfram thought he should be able to carry Grogg too. I was skeptical, but Wolfram was right.

We stopped to make camp early in the evening. Hylda did what she could to get Grogg to relax and hopefully sleep, beginning with a massage. Wolfram sat down to preen his beard. He always took good care of his weapons and armor, but he hadn’t seemed to bother with his own appearance. We’d be back at Samora’s place in a week or two, and I thought he would need the time, at least if he meant to figure things out on his own. Yana and I agreed that Wolfram could do with a shave and a haircut and some new clothes.

I decided Wolfram and Xipil were alert enough to join in the watch, so I proposed we divided the night into four, with Xipil taking the first watch, Yana the second, I the third and Wolfram the fourth. The others agreed.

Yana and I said good night when Xipil and Wolfram began to discuss Tiri. Inspired by Hylda, I asked if Yana would like a backrub. “That would be lovely,” she said, giving me a peck on the cheek before stripping out of her clothes.

After the backrub, Yana asked most seductively if there was anything she could do for me, but I was sensible and said it was time to sleep. “If I can hold you in my embrace while we doze off, I will be satisfied.” I almost blushed. Yana surely heard the lie, and she let her hands roam freely while I brushed my teeth, but she supported my expressed desire and let me wrap myself around her as we lay down.

I was surprised to find myself alone under the blankets when I woke up, and more surprised when I realized it was Yana coming to wake me for my turn at the watch. I spoke a short prayer of thanks before following Yana outside. Since it was Your gift that otherwise would have woken me when Xipil came to fetch Yana, it was clearly Your blessing that allowed me to sleep when I needed it.

Yana told me Xipil had tried to point out a bird to her, but she hadn’t seen it. It had remained on its perch during Xipil’s watch, but for all Yana knew, it could be long gone. Still, she pointed where Xipil had indicated, and I caught sight of the presumed shapeshifter. I nodded and told Yana I’d keep an eye on it.

More interestingly, however, was the little sister nesting under one of the nearby trees. Not much larger than Hope, she sat easily in my palm while we talked. I thought she was a relative of the northern stiletto snake, with the same pattern of brown and green, but without the tell-tale red crosses that I knew from back home. I wasn’t expecting to gain much information from my new-found sister, but I felt bolstered and blessed for having met her. Hope joined us for a short prayer, and the two of them coiled up around my neck as I continued my patrol.

When the watch change approached, I returned both snakes to their nests, and I warned my new sister that not all of my traveling companions were our siblings, but I would not want any accidents. The stiletto snake was already wary of the large creatures that had settled down in her territory, but she promised not to instigate anything, as long as she was left alone.

I warned Wolfram to stay clear of the snake nest. There was no reason to conceal how happy I was to meet a new sister, and I smelled that Wolfram picked up on it, even in the pre-dawn gloom. Maybe it was the tone of my voice that let on? “Oh, and by the way, the shapeshifter bird is watching,” I added, pointing. Wolfram squinted into the night, clearly unable to see anything, but he nodded. “Good night!” I trilled, heading for my tent.

I didn’t mean to wake Yana, but the vague blur of her dream scent turned to sharp alertness while I undressed. I slithered in under the blanket and snaked my arms around her. “I met a new sister tonight,” I hissed excitedly, then proceeded to tell Yana all about it.

O Ashtar! We surrender our lives to Your coils. Take us while we sleep, or grant us another day in Your service, as You will.