>>6128859“Yeah, but they can FLY with ‘em, and they don’t look like THOSE wings,” you say, gesturing at the floppy flippers upon your captive’s back.
(You almost feel a little offended on Hershy’s behalf, being compared to that fat, fishy fucker…)
“Plus, they got eyes,” you add belatedly.
“Not in caves,” Yeb-Uit notes quietly. “In deep caves, out in the wastes, you can find some with real small eyes, with skin grown over ‘em… And if you find the pond where they spawn, you can find little guys with all their limbs wide an’ floppy, like fish fins, if they’re even big an’ old enough to have fins at all.”
You and Khorine look at him, and you can’t help being genuinely impressed… Even if Yeb’s still not exactly a ‘proper ranger’.
“Good eatin’,” he adds, and Khorine retches and sticks out her blunt, wide tongue.
“So you’re saying that this creature is adapted to dwell not in an open lake, but some subterranean—no, subaquatic lair??”
The three of you turn towards the interruption, finding the bespectacled Eastern-looking girl.
“Who th’ fuck are YOU?”
“I’m Vel—”
“It was RHETORICAL,” you snap. “I don’t give two shits! Can’t ya’ tellw e’re havin’ a private conversation here, kid?”
“…that’s not what ‘rhetorical’ means, exactly,” ‘Vel’ matters, miffed, but she backs off.
“So,” you ask your allies, once your rival ahs backed up a few paces and you’ve lowered your voice. “What’s the play?”
“You’re supposed to be the leader of this team, are you not?” demands Khorine.
You nod grimly. Ah, the weight of responsibility. Well, it seems to you…
>Should see about scouting around for entrances to nearby caves that could connect up with the lake>Are going to need a scroll or potion to help you track a target, enchant this ‘drake’, and let it loose>Need to figure out how to make that potion or whatever that Leif and his crew sued to lure this thing out, so you can make some yourself>Should send Cara-Zi down into the depths to scout around for more of these things, and figure out where they live>Need to hire someone else, or buy some more equipment [such as…?]>Write-inIt would also make sense…
>To press on tonight [could incur penalties, there’s no telling what lurks at night besides you, but fewer rival eyes will be on you]
>To wait until tomorrow [safer, you’ll get some food and a good night’s sleep, you‘ll have more time to prepare… But the other teams will be in action, also]
Do you have any other business with these naive teen-aged adventurers?
>Yes [write-in]>No 