>>5347838>>5347815>>5347792>>5347635>>5347629>>5347623>>5347621>>5347605>>5347596>>5347587>>5347585>>5347580>>5347562The dwarves are quite wary of your offering, and you suppose you can see why. They have been widowed and orphaned, respectively, by your great and terrible conquest of their company-town. Now, you take them as slaves, march them deep into the unknown, and offer them an abundance of food—even more than you or your fellow Reptilians are eating, and the provisions of highest quality no less!
“Are… You planning to sacrifice us, sir?” ask the male—Karz, you think it was?
“Don’t be sssilly,” you chastise him. “Eat!”
“Then are we the emergency food, ourselves? Like… Livestock?”
You glance at Davora, and resist the urge to make a crack about <appetite> of a different sort, instead saying simply: “Of courssse not.”
The three of you sit in silence for a time, the dwarves uneasy as you finish your own rather minimal meal and watch them eat with interest. It’s actually not such a hard thing to feed the two of them extra, for these mammals can eat many things which turn the stomachs of even hybrids like yourself or Olu—strange fruits, nuts, berries, and breads taken from the dwraven stores. It gets you thinking…
“Herbalissst,” you call upon Davora.
She looks up, cheeks still full of food, orange-amber eyes wide. She gulps, swallowing.
“Are there any herbss that promote magical abilitiess, or replenish mana?” you ask.
“Um, well… Yes, I suppose. But down here, deep below the ground? Not as many, I wouldn’t think. They grow near fonts of mana—leyline-junctions, enriched stone… If you find glowing gems or orichalcum that ahs somehow been supercharged, that’s where you would find magical flora.”
“What of herbss that increasse ssstrength and enduranccce?”
“A couple,” she slowly hazards, “most of what you’ll find down here are plants that need little or no light, or can substitute, like… Minerals and moisture for light. Or magic, hence the, uh, the magic plants growing near sources of it. Fungi are much, MUCH more common.”
“And can any of these fungi increassse physical or sspiritual vitality?” you ask.
“There ARE a few regional cultivars on the surface, and below. But those below… Well, Some of them can stimulate a dwarf’s body or set their mind to moving in strange ways… But usually not, like, INCREASE strength or magic, as far as I know. They just make you FEEL like you’re on top of the world… Or create other, um, mental and phsyical effects.”
“Such as?”
