Part I:The Journey
“Everybody has their own way of life,” the low-voiced goblin said to the very fat pig and patted her on the back. The pig snorted, eyeing the goblin confusedly.
“So, this place you talked about -- this Waterpures -- it's to the south from here, no?” The goblin turned to face the small, round gorlak who was surrounded by a group of capybaras and several other folks.
“Waterlures. It's Waterlures.” Ïteb, the gorlak, corrected and continued. “Yes. Yes, it is. The elves from Múya Loré were quite specific on it's location. And that is where I and my flock are headed, guided by the holy visions sent to me by the Almighty, the Great Rabbit Ôsed in my dreams in the deeps of Controlledseal.”
“A-ha. Yes. Right. Waterlures. Visions from bunnies. Gotcha.” The goblin rolled his eyes as discreetly as he could. “We'll get you there. Keep you out of harms way. Safe and sound. On my honor.” He continued, holding his fist to his heart as if to emphasize he was an honorable being - who just so happened to be part of the Fellowship of Excavation, a bandit gang holed up in the forests of the Playful Hill.
Or as safe as that amount of money can pay for. If I'd not be wanting -- needing -- to get desperately out of this dunghole, I'd never commit to anything with such a paltry sum. Cheapskate gorlak. Prophet my ass, Rin thought.
Lovelythorns was not much of a home. Just a simple camp in the woods with no permanent structures -- the canopies of the persimmon trees and oaks were their roof. No wonder that many an elf outcast had joined the gang and felt like at home there.
Rin the goblin, however, did not see it as home: it was just the only group that he'd found that took him in after all the unwanted attention his less-than-lawful actions had caused in the Just Unions and the Bent Spears. A miserable hole this was -- almost as disgusting as the pits he was born and raised in -- and the sooner he got away, the better.
And this Waterlures sure sounded good: riches that would make dwarven kings envious; no need for law enforcement; no quarrels between neighbors - only peace. Everything was in abundance like in paradise: fish a-plenty, food a-plenty, and drinks, oh the drinks! So much to drink!
“Are we ready to go?” Rin addressed the gorlak and others as he sneakily picked up some coins from the bandit gang's hoard.
“Yes. We should all be as one.” Ova, a mandrill man, said in a cryptic manner.
The sky was clear and the sun was just rising from beyond the horizon. It was a cool morning that spring, on the 1st of Granite, as the group consisting mostly of animal people prepared to set forth.
Their group was rather large: eleven in total (and one pet pig). Rin the goblin was their guide and scout with Odda, the leopard gecko woman carrying a copper spear. Ïteb the gorlak prophet led his flock of five capybara people: Meng, Libash, Zon, Cusal and Luki. Id, the naked mole dog man, was Ïteb's trusted servant.
Then there was Ova the mandrill man and Fayoba, an elf. They, too, were worshipers of the rabbit god Ôsed, and after meeting the prophet and pilgrims on the road, they had joined the group -- safety in numbers and all that.
The group would first head southwest, steering clear of the town of Slidwaxes -- a place taken over by the fell forces of the Prestigious Glazes some decades ago. It was rumored that the dead walked there and the new rulers performed vile experiments on the living, twisting their forms into wretched abominations of the Night.
It was not a long walk to Fellspreads, a hamlet, that was located slightly northwest of Slidwaxes.
Despite its name, the hamlet wasn't a place of wickedness. Or, as far as Rin knew, it wasn't. He actually did not know much of it except old stories of a towering creature made of solid bronze destroying it as a punishment by the Gods. It was more of a myth really. If all the inhabitants were killed, who remained to tell the story? No. It certainly was made up by power-hungry priests who seeked to control the weak and gullible.
Rin spat on the ground in disgust. He had no like for those who exercised power over others. And that gorlak lady, that so-called prophet. She certainly was one of them. Those greedy, manipulative bastards.
Paying no head to the discussions of his companions, Rin's thoughts wandered.
But what about the stories of kobolds living in Fellspreads? Well, that might be possible... Except for the fact that kobolds were most likely a myth too. Haven't ever seen one. Don't know of any who has seen one. Definitely not real.
Passing by fields of radishes, the group came to the first limestone hovels of Fellspreads.
It was eerily silent. The houses looked like they had been empty for a long time, yet they showed practically no sign of weathering.
As they went from house to house, knocking on doors and peering in when nobody answered, Meng opened his mouth, “Many years ago, Tura Dreamlimb became Holy Steel of the Denomination of Earth, replacing Zom Knotdungeons.”
“How...interesting...” Rin replied snarkily.
I don't care one way or another, you stupid capybara man.
As they neared the last hovels of the hamlet, Rin wondered who had planted all the radish if there were none living in it. He opened a door absent-mindedly and immediately stopped in his tracks.
There was someone inside.
Rin couldn't believe his eyes...
Kobolds.
Or at least he thought they were kobolds.
Rin tried to greet the three creatures who were huddled in the back corner of the hovel. They remained silent and stared impatiently at the goblin with their large, yellow glowing eyes.
After trying to communicate with them for several minutes, Rin gave up.
“It's no use. We won't be getting any word from these buggers.” He said to the group he was guiding. ”What buggers? Who were you talking to in that hut? Let me see, let me see!” Libash, one of the capybaras, said trying to peek inside around Rin.
Rin closed the door before Libash got a good glimpse inside.
“There... There was, err...nobody there. Let's move on and forget this place.”
The sun began to set when they reached the Teal Swamp. The swamp pools were still frozen and slowly melting snow covered the ground. Dry reed and cattail stalks jutted through the snow here and there.
The group made camp next to one of the frozen pools. As Rin prepared the fire, Meng rummaged through his backpack and took out his copper betan -- a large hand-held hourglass-shaped drum with a leather head. Meng had named his trusty percussion instrument Kaweleto, 'Wardboat'.
However, none of the others new any compositions requiring the rhythm of the betan, so Meng put it back in his backpack disappointedly.
Instead he began to sing 'The Charm Ever Onward'. Ova, Odda and Fayoba joined in, simulating various instruments. While Meng sang well, the performance of the others was shameworthy and hurt the ears of Rin.
“Could we
please be quiet? Some of us are trying to get some sleep here.” Rin snapped at the capybaras.
The following day began with a thin, cold mist as snow fell down from the dark gray sky.
Rin was unsure of the exact direction they had to go. Ïteb's directions were hardly as 'precise' as she claimed them to be: in fact, they were very, very vague and obfuscated with unintelligible metaphors that only a so-called holy person could make up. To make matters worse, Rin's knowledge of the world ended pretty much at Slidwaxes and he had no maps of distant lands.
Fortunately the others didn't know that.
Their travels took them through the Balanced Jungles as they followed a river southwards...
..And through the Perplexing Jungles...
...All the way to the Hill of Fells where they made camp as the sun set...
...And as the sun began to rise, they saw buildings in the north with a tower rising from the lake: it had to be Waterlures!
=====
First part.
Sorry for the rushed ending. I ended up save-scumming when an ambush happened and practically everyone was doomed to die -- didn't really feel like starting from the beginning, so...
Anyway, tomorrow is fort mode time. I guess most of the time will go into picking up scattered books and such. And general cleanup.
I'll sell/destroy everything the village doesn't need.
Plus, of course, I'll continue to try arranging marriages.
Author
Topic: Waterlures - A Capybara Man Fortress & Adventure [DF 0.47.05] (Read 80199 times)