Not a Vacation (Part 2)
It's still wonderfully warm, the sun still shining above you as you work to put together a fishing rod. The dragon, the tiny little golden thing is curled up beside the drowsing form of Choler, watching. Her head tilts in the sand and lazily she replies. "He was using too much sulfur. I tried to tell him, but he told me that he didn't need my help." She hums low in her throat, watching you make your fishing pole. "Silly peoples. He should have buffed my scales like I offered to let him. He made funny sounds when it all caught on fire."
The Gobbo's eyes slowly open, blinking away the sleep. She peers, slightly wide-eyed, at the dragon. A hand slowly comes up and her finger slowly traces its way down the dragon's neck. Choler grins toothily at the critter.
"Wizards," Asmli answers, as if this should explain everything the gold dragon just said, and the nature of the universe as well. "Don't know why you bothered trying to get a wizard to fish for you." He plops himself down on the sand with a sigh that could be relief, pushing the branch out in front of him and looking for a good means of attaching the line to the branch.
Elena is still busy helping Asmli, no longer caring whether that red dust gets on her robes or not as she sits in the -- sand??? -- helping the dwarf construct the rod as best they can. She laughs a bit at the mention of polishing the dragon's scales, doing her best to suppress a smile. "I see," is all she offers in return, nodding her understanding.
The dragon purrs as she is petted, spreading her wings across the sand to best catch the sunlight. "He said he'd get me fish." She sounds mournful, golden eyes blinking in long languid movements. "Peoples get me fish."
Choler makes a little pleased sound at the dragon's purr, and begins to use her hand instead of just a finger, slowly stroking the dragon's neck and back. "And why do peoples get you fishes? Is it because you set others on fire?", the Gobbo wonders.
"Even if she weren't pretty, that's a good reason to fish," Asmli snorts. "Think I've had just about enough of fire for a while, thanks. You know, what if you learned to fish for yourself? Then you wouldn't have to use your fire to make people fish for you." He's still working on that rope, and now holds out the end of the branch so that Elena can tie the line firmly to it.
"It seems rather unpredictable, always relying on the skill and honesty of others, no? Catching your own might offer a much more liberating experience," Elena agrees, offering the little gold dragon another curious look. She wrinkles her brow, glancing between Asmli and Choler. "It almost seems there's a parable of some kind in there, no?"
The dragon grumbles, but doesn't move. "I didn't set him on fire. I don't set peoples on fire... not unless they are /mean/." She huffs and a little bit of sand goes flying away from her snout. "Peoples catch fish... Peoples /like/ catching fish. And I help peoples who catch me fish. I keep them company, and let them touch my pretty scales. Get rid of peoples that hurt them for them." She nods slightly.
The Gobbo giggles at the dragon's words, and shakes her head. "Well if they aren't getting you fishes, isn't that mean?" She gently slides her hands under the little golden dragon, and carefully lifts her. Destination: Gobbo lap. Lapdragons are best dragons.
"You do? Ever had to actually stop someone hurting someone who gets you fish?" Asmli looks up and over at the dragon, interested.
Elena frowns at the goblin suggesting that people not pressed into the dragon's service might be being mean, shaking her head. "Don't confuse her," she chides, though her tone is playful. "Were she to do that, I'd have to suggest to the magistrates that you be pressed into her service for every person injured in such a way. And that seems like a terrible waste of both our times." But continues to work on the fishing rod. "Where did you learn to make these, Asmli?" she asks, curiosity in her voice. "You seem to have done this a time or two. You're rather skilled."
Contrary to Elena's desire to cull the idea from the dragon's head, the little golden thing seems to be actually considering Choler's words as if they hold merit. She allows herself to be gathered up, though she grumbles at losing her perfect, warm, comfortable spot in the sand. Instead she makes herself likewise comfortable in her new location. "Of course I have stopped people from hurting the peoples that get me fish! I don't like seeing my peoples get hurt!" She sounds offended by the idea that she might just sit around and /not/ do something if and when someone threatened 'her people'. She snorts. "Set them on fire and scratch their eyes. No hurting my peoples!"
Choler giggles at Elena, and sticks her tongue out at the woman when the dragon seems to lean the Gobbo's way. "Well, obviously people shouldn't be bullied by others, but if the little dragon is starving, shouldn't good people feed her fishes?" She snorts at the little golden dragon, and looks to Asmli. "Can we keep her?"
"They shouldn't be threatened if they decide not to," Asmli counters, although he grins sheepishly at Elena. "Sort of figured it out myself. Elders used to send me out to catch fish without a rod, find a particular size and shape rock and bring it back ... all kinds of stuff. Think they just wanted to get rid of me for a while." There's a glint of good humor there. "If they have to or they get hurt, that's mean too, Choler. And I don't think you can keep a dragon. She keeps herself. She ain't no pet. If she can feed herself, she won't starve."
"Sentient creatures cannot be kept. Here, anyway," Elena reminds. "That's called 'slavery'. And while it may be fashionable in some cities, in this nation, it is quite illegal." Seems that's a 'no' then, from both the fighter and the cleric. Though at Asmli's story, she frowns. "That sounds --" A glance at the dragon. "Well. Mean."
This time, the dragon comments on nothing. Her eyes are closed - she might be asleep. Yet there's a general sense of liveliness from her that suggests that she's still awake.
The Gobbo keeps petting the little dragon, and leans in to more closely inspect the critter. "People keep children. For their own good, yes? Is this one not like a child? Unable, or perhaps unwilling, to fend for itself. Screeching to get its own way? I mean, even dragons start off small. They may be smart, even newly born, but they are naïve. She could be a danger to others. Misunderstandings would be very easy, and I am surprised that she has gotten away with it so far." Choler shrugs, rubbing lightly between the dragon's eyes. "Leaving her by herself would be mean."
Asmli looks up at the end of the branch, to see if Elena's got that makeshift line secured yet. "Dunno as I like the idea of a gobber keepin' a child that breathes fire," he observes. "Specially as I'm sharing a room with 'er. Still, take yer point. Wouldn't be mean, but it probably ain't a good idea. Teachin' her right from wrong ain't a bad notion. Can't make her do it, though. That'd be mean."
Elena leaves all the talk of what may or may not be philosophically superior to the others. She keeps her attention focused on the task at hand. Specifically, securing the line to the pole. Very pointedly not weighing in on whether or not it would be a good idea for a goblin to keep a dragon. "I think this should hold," she finally says. "Might want to give it a test. I'll admit that fishing isn't my specialty."
"I am not a baby." Replies the dragon from the goblin's lap. A very firm statement from the undoubtedly little dragon. She opens one eye to roll it up at first Choler and then Asmli. Fixing them both with solid looks that repeat her statement. Then she wiggles a little. "Are you going to fish?" A toothy grin.
Choler grins at the golden dragon. "You are small though, young, yes? New to the world?" She sees the excitement in the dragon movements, and slowly lifts the dragon up, attempting to place the dragon across her shoulders. "Here, you can watch from up here, and I'll go with them, you can see us catch fish. And maybe, you can even try getting one yourself, won't that be nice?"
"Getting one yourself is way better than having people get them for you," Asmli agrees, setting down the branch and heaving himself to his feet, letting that odd red sand fall away from his trousers. it's still clinging to the back of his trousers, but he doesn't seem to mind, stepping carefully down to the water's edge and toeing around, looking for worms or something else to be used as bait.
Elena just remains seated, looking over at Choler and the dragon as Asmli searches for bait. "The wizard did seem awfully -- anxious to part ways with you," she considers. "Something tells me that you're far from a babe of any sort." And then, to Choler, "and probably not a thing to be kept. Though you may certainly try to barter some manner of arrangement, if you wish."
The dragon grumbles a little as her perch is changed for a /second/ time, but obligingly takes her place on the goblin's shoulders to watch as Asmli searches for something to use as bait. She snorts once, but otherwise remains quiet. The gentle insect sounds from the forest suggest that it might be a be a good place to hunt up such things, but eventually Asmli's searching brings up a few fat, round, squishy... things. They look vaguely like maggots but they're rather close in color to the sand and dirt that they're hiding in.
When the Gobbo sees Asmli pulling ... maggot things from the sand, she is standing in a flash. The pants of her Gi are quickly inspected for ... blobby creepy crawlies, before she is petting the dragon anew. "So then, dragon, what is your name?" She pats her chest. "I am Choler, and he is Asmli. Er. Uhm. Elena?" Choler looks to the dragon curiously. "So that we don't have to call you dragon, and you don't have to call us gobbos."
"I ain't no gobbo, and she'd best not call me one." Asmli grumbles, making a face at the creatures he pulls from the sand. That face remains as he unbraids a couple of twists at the other end of the line to braid the maggot things into it. This takes a couple of tries, they're squirmy, and finally, he looks up. "If ya wanna try getting a fish for yourself ... how about if I toss one of these in the water, and you grab the fish with your claws when it comes up to eat it?"
Elena watches the dwarf, wrinkling her nose distastefully as he pulls the squirming whatever-they-are out of the sand, though she nods her agreement with the dwarf's plan. "I think that having her be a part of it would be a good idea," she agrees. "Assuming that there are actually -- fish here. Or something similar enough to them." A glance down to the ground, and then back out to the water, the frown deepening. "Let's just hope that's all we lure to shore."
"Tanithariairisixchel." Declares the dragon with a pleased note to her voice, her tail making slow lazy motions on Choler's shoulder. She licks her lips in anticipation of fish and hums low in her throat. "I can grab the fish, yes. But I am not going in the water. I am not a fish." This last is said rather firmly with a light snort as if it is utterly ridiculous to even consider going into the water.
GAME: Asmli rolls survival: (10)+6: 16 GAME: Asmli rolls strength: (17)+3: 20 GAME: Choler rolls survival: (19)+1: 20 GAME: Choler rolls strength: (10)+1: 11 GAME: Elena rolls Strength: (7)+1: 8
It takes about an hour, long enough for you to start thinking that there's nothing out here to catch. Then, suddenly there's a tug on the line and Asmli immediately starts to haul in the catch. Seeing his efforts the rest of you join in and with a massive /heave/ you reel the fish in. You don't realize until the swell of water rises up around you that you might have put more strength behind that pull than you thought because... It's a /huge/ fish.
It crests the water and you realize suddenly that's it's not just a fish... it's a /shark/ and not a small one. But you don't have time to worry about the fact that it's incoming because the little dragon is launching herself off of Choler's shoulder /at/ the shark as quick as she can. The shark... vanishes. There's a line in the sand under the clear blue water where its belly hit the shore and yet the shark itself is... gone. There's something else in the water though. Something swimming toward you whilst the little dragon dipps above the wave that's also headed toward you.
Choler blinks at the dragon's name, and grins brightly. "May I call you Tanitha, then? Your name is long, and I do not want to mess it up. Though, Rawrawr is more cute, I think." She giggles at the feel of tail idly moving about. "Aw, you don't like swimming? Well, I won't let you get wet. But I will have to walk into the water a little bit, to get close to the fish. Asmli will catch it, I'll pull it up, and you can grab it. It's not quite catching it on your own, but a small start."
If it were not for the dragon's presence, the Goblin might have been terribly bored with the wait. Her eyes go BIG as teacup saucers when she sees the shark. "THAT'S NOT A FISH!", she yells. And then she's doing the little hop-jump-run-walk ones does in attempts made to flee the water.
Elena looks out to the water, backpedaling quickly. "That is a fish, just not the right kind!" The cleric might not have been terribly helpful when it comes to pulling the thing in, but she seems graceful enough to get back as quickly as possible. Except, then the shark simply disappears, and something else is moving toward them. The cleric's brain doesn't even have time to process it all, simply going into survival mode.
Asmli, on the other hand, has planted his prosthetic leg firmly into the sand and is pulling for all his burly khazad frame is worth on that line. "Got something!" he shouts when it first bites, and only when it crests the water does he realize - that's no fish. He fairly throws the makeshift rod to one side, as far back from the water's edge as it will go, backpedaling to where he left his urgrosh in the sand, his heart suddenly pounding for all it's worth as an adrenaline surge hits him like a freight train. "It's somethin' else!"
GAME: Elena rolls Reflex: (3)+2: 5 GAME: Choler rolls reflex: (17)+7: 24 GAME: Asmli rolls reflex: (8)+4: 12
The shark is gone, just like that, but the wave created by its body rushing to the shore hits the group of you hard. The only one that isn't knocked over by it is Choler, who reached the beach and relative safety before the wave could hit her /too/ hard. There's still /something/ in the water though. Obviously headed for you though the distortion of wave and water makes it difficult to make out. "Fish?" Chirps the dragon from above you.
Choler is halfway up the beach before she stops, panting heavily. She turns around to peek at where Asmli and Elena should be, and she makes her way back to the edge. "Tanitha!", she calls, patting her shoulder. "Come and make yourself comfortable. We can wait for the next shark to arrive. THERE'S ANOTHER ONE COMING!", the Gobbo calls out, helpfully, for the others.
Completely drenched by the onrush of water, covered head to foot in crimson sand by the powerful undertow as the wave slid back into the ocean, Asmli comes up sputtering and swearing as only a khazad can do, blonde hair slicked back and with a string of seaweed hanging from it. He doesn't seem to notice, though, backpedaling out of the way of the water, and up to the beach, left leg threatening to give way as he does so. "My weapon!" he shouts, struggling up the beach. "Up the Great Smith's arsehole with the fish, Tanitha, wv'e got company!"
Elena tries to get back out of the way, but ends up just as drenched as Asmli, coming up coughing and sputtering as the water blurs her vision. Pushing the stray locks of hair out of her eyes, she looks around, seeing Asmli, trying to orient herself as she runs toward the beach, away from the water. "Not the promised vacation, after all," she shouts, trying to gain her footing in the soft sand.
GAME: Asmli rolls perception: (13)+4: 17 GAME: Elena rolls Perception: (15)+6: 21 GAME: Choler rolls perception: (10)+3: 13
At first, it does seem like another shark is headed your way, but then you realize that's just the distortion of the water and that whatever this is, it's actually significantly smaller than the shark. But still large enough to be a danger. It's speeding through the water fast, and actually crests the water a moment later. Which is when you realize that this is... a person of some kind. With scales and gills and a trident held fast in one hand. It seems to have no difficulty breathing the air, and it hisses angrily at you.
"IT'S NOT A SHARK!", the Gobbo calls out. "It looks like a pissed off fish person. They've got a trident!" She waves at the man. "Hiiiiii! Did you want to join us for lunch?", Choler calls out. "Tanitha, come here, yes?"
"Thinkin' he wants us as the main course, gobber." Asmli's still backpedaling, trying to get up the beach, and by the time he gets back to where his weapon lies, he's pretty openly favoring that left leg. His heart's still pounding, but he reverses his grip on the urgrosh into a fighting position, taking a couple of limping steps in front of the cleric and the gobbo, the posture defensive.
Elena unslings that strange-looking mace from her hip as the fish-man appears, brandishing his weapon and hissing as such. She just shakes her head at the newcomer, clearly not -wanting- a fight but prepared for one if it breaks out. "I don't suppose anyone here is familiar with whatever language he might speak?" Because gods only know what plane they're even on, much less what languages this being might understand.
The fish-man swims quickly and efficiently through the water right up to where Asmli has pulled himself up. There's obvious fury in his eyes as he gurgles something.
"Sorry, speak Trade, I don't understand gurgling like a fish." All the good humor in Asmli is replaced by snarl and grump, and he holds the urgrosh in a ready position, standing his ground.
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+4: (10)+4: 14
The man responds by stabbing his trident at Asmli, and uttering something that sounds like high-pitched chittering. It's clearly another language, but also /not/ anything that you speak.
Meanwhile, at Choler's request, the golden dragon lands on her shoulder, peering at their hostile guest with sharp interest.
Choler moves in, warily trying to get around to the side of the angry person with a trident. "Do you know Goblin-talk?", she asks in said language. She waits a moment. "Khazad, maybe?" Asmli probably gets that. Another moment. Then a terrible sound comes from her, as if she'd inhaled sulfur hexafluoride. "Abyssal by any chance?"
GAME: Asmli rolls 1d20+8: (17)+8: 25 GAME: Asmli rolls 1d8+4: (7)+4: 11
Being stabbed at is quite enough for Asmli, who was already on the brink of doing so with having a weapon waved in his face. He answers the stab at him by fairly laying, no hesitation, into the sahuagin with the axe end of the urgrosh and opening up quite a nice bloody gash.
GAME: Choler rolls weapon0: (6)+5: 11 GAME: Choler rolls weapon0: (14)+5: 19
Elena reaches up, clutching at her holy symbol, "...walks with me in shadows and strange places...," a tangible power flowing from her as those around her find themselves a little less afraid, a little more sure of themselves.
GAME: Choler rolls 1d4+1: (3)+1: 4
As the Khazad attacks from the fore, the Gobbo comes in from the side. Her hands blur as she strikes at the man's knee, scoring a solid thump, as the chanting of a prayer of blessing can be heard from the priestess.
GAME: Asmli rolls 1d20+8: (5)+8: 13 GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+4: (2)+4: 6
Asmli's second strike, close on the heels of the first, is nowhere near as true, though, and even with Elena's prayers, still goes wide.
The fish-man's attack goes wide also, but he's bleeding a thick black blood from his injuries and they seem to be slowing him down even as he tries to spear Asmli with his trident. When the high-piched clicking noises don't draw any response the man is gurgling again, furiously. Not that you can understand a word of it.
GAME: Elena spends ONE use of CHANNEL ENERGY. GAME: Elena rolls 1d6: (5): 5
Elena reaches out with that strange looking mace, a swift wind rising up around her as the color of her eyes darken -- literally. In the reddish sand, they take on a sheen like the lunar eclipse, and with a thunderous voice she intones, "When she saw the wickedness that had taken hold, she was filled with pity -- but not with mercy, and scoured the rot from her sight..." Dark tendrils of energy snake out from the cleric, threatening to wrap around Choler and Asmli, though not touching them -- for now. The merman, however, does seem to get the brunt of their wrath, wrapping around the fish man and dragging, pulling…
He falls into the shallows of the water with a little splash, his blood seeping out around him and sinking into the ocean. Rocking back and forth with the gentle swell of the waves.
Choler watches as the strange man falls. "I... wish we had been able to communicate with him.", she says, sounding morose. Eyeing the body for a moment, she walks over, and begins to push him out into the waves.
-End