>>5296442Your ‘work’ consists of harvesting the flesh of the Devourer, and removing the head to serve as a trophy. It is undersized for the great beast’s body, but still easily the size of your torso, and quite heavy. You hollow it of neural ganglia and fleshy components (including an internal skeleton! bizarre!) to make it easier to carry, and you explain the plan to your men.
“Archer Oluwadamilare,” you address him, “you and the Pit-Guard will take his Apprentcie back to the Drow.”
They look as if you had consigned them to execution.
“Better I’d have died,” the Pit-Guard hisses.
“Superior One,” Olu attempts to reason with you, looking almost pale, “Please! I can still fight. I am a specialist at ranged, not melee, combat.”
“But can you climb swiftly up and down vertical walls of stone?” you ask. “Can you move swiftly through an engagement, to acquire an ideal position? Can you dodge return-fire?”
Olu lowers his gaze.
“I will recover swiftly,” the Pit-Guard grumbles. “I can fight the kobolds by the time we reach the foothills where these rebel-slaves play at lordship, Dragonborn.”
“Your Apprentice will have a longer recovery ahead,” you say. “I want he, and the Archer, returned to me alive, and intact, ready for the campaigns ahead. They cannot reach the Drow without a guard. You ARE that guard.”
The Pit-Guard slowly nods, and mutters a half-hearted thanks.
The Apprentice is still unconscious, unable to voice his own complaint for his wounded honour. Good. You’re tired.
“Eat,” you encourage them, passing out rust-monster meat and water. “Drink.”
You all do. It is… Iron-rich. Chewy. Bitter. None of you complain. You’ve all eaten worse.
What do you do with your downtime? Choose up to two.
>Speak with Glowie about her future colony, and her plans [specify if you make a suggestion as to where to situate it, such as here, Bloodrise, or among the Drow]>Help the Novice brew her potions—perhaps she can teach you something of it, or you can at least be of some small use to her and speed the process>Let Paeris try his hand again at raising morale with a bardic song>Attempt to commune with a Dark God [which one?]>Practice with your new sword in solitude>Go scouting with the Thief>Write-in 