>>6152592You take a step back, and Khorine moves her twig blight into intercept position. You grimace a little at the rank smell of—fuck’s sake!—FISH coming off ‘Nermal’. Hershy croaks repeatedly in a low, warning thrum, and fluffs up into an pissed-off little puffball
“I know, I know,” CZ says, before you can curse her out. “But look—it’s friendly, at least!”
You narrow your eyes and watch as the big, blubbery baby lake monster lets CZ wobble it all around, smush up its face, and even follows simple commands once her arms have gotten tired and she’s set it down.
“How’d ya manage that?”
CZ freezes up a little bit at that question, and laughs nervously.
“Magic?”
You sigh. Demon shit, then. For all the opportunities this trip has provided you, you swear it’s been a bad influence on your ‘sister’ somehow. Probably that Maladoo mutt…
That said, it’s free labour, apart from feeding the thing. As adventurers, a certain amount of ‘eccentricity’ is expected in your animal companions, too, and allowances are made; it’s a well-known fact that right behind bored noble-types with their ‘menageries’, adventurers are the biggest market for the exotic animal trade. Your twinky pal Tips has a goddamn three-headed FREAKSHOW for a pet, even though the damn thing keeps trying to sue you for a chew-toy! And if you’re doing this job for the Delvers… Well, it’s a dwarf gig, and dwarves live in caves, like CAVE-drakes do. Maybe it’ll be useful?
“Fine,” you acquiesce, to CZ’s visible relief.
<span class="mu-b"><span class="mu-s">Nermal</span> joined the party!</span>
