>>6098846Both your eyes and Volka’s snap towards the new voice and find themselves staring at… well, at first glance they look like a pair of yellow disco balls!
“Morook!” Volka announces with a smile, “He woke up! Your medicine did the trick!”
“That remains to be seen…” Mutters the quieter voice belonging to the disco ball eyes. “You picked a strange place to swim, friend.”
You didn’t pick <span class="mu-i">ANYTHING</span>, you groan! You’re not <span class="mu-s">FROM</span> here, okay? You were… summoned, or something! By some weird cult!
Both of your saviors pause to appraise you for a bit. Finally they’re starting to LISTEN!
“... I think he’s deranged, Mor.”
Damn it! Morook, as he was called, doesn’t reply. Though nowhere near as tall as Volka, he still stoops to a knee to address you.
“A cult?”
Well for starters they were wearing these robes, you begin as you shake your accoutrement around, letting the trinkets sewn onto it jangle, and when you woke up you were in some cave full of traps… and beaked monsters!
“Beaked?” Volka asks.
“Makkar.” Replies the newcomer in a matter-of-fact tone. “Common and bold in these parts.”
As you wrack your brain for any other proof, you remember the pieces of <span class="mu-s">PARCHMENT</span> you pilfered from the cultists! Handing them over to Morook, you cross your arms and wait as he examines them closer.
“...These aren’t your usual incantations, that’s for sure…” He muses as you hear the parchment shift hands to Volka. “Would Master Volkir recognize these, you think?”
“It’d be weird if he couldn’t…” Volka replies with a click of something tongue-like, “You’re right, though:weird choice of runes for an incantation…”
Magic, you begin with awed disbelief in your tone, they’re… are they talking about <span class="mu-i">magic</span>?
“Not as common these days with the world going dark, but not <span class="mu-i">un</span>common.” Nods Morook as he rises to his feet. “So you’re no Gnok then… that explains the smell.”
No, you sigh, you’re not a ‘<span class="mu-i">Gnok</span>’. You’re a human, okay? At least… you think you are. The details have been pretty sparse.
“Human…” Volka repeats in a tone that almost makes it sound sacred, “What a funny word!”
“Surprising amount of similarities between you and a Gnok, though…” Morook observes with a hint of bemusement, “I was curious where your feathers and horns were when I examined your wounds.”
Wait a sec, you stammer, he… examined you?
“Well I <span class="mu-i">started</span>...” Volka replies with a touch of embarrassment creeping into her tone, “But when I realized you weren’t a girl, well…”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t find any permanent damage.” Morook steps in with a smirk, “Which makes you quite a lucky person if you truly fell from a bridge. Nothing but crags and cliffs in this neck of the Darklands.”
>CONTD. 