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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7594574" data-attributes="member: 143">When preparing Weltarin I drew inspiration from my old Isle of Dread story.* * * Chapter 283Kosk awoke feeling stiff.  There must have been a rock or a bit of protruding stone under his bedroll, and it felt like a part of it had gotten under his skin and taken up residence in his muscles.Kosk had spent the last several years training his body, gaining control over it by asserting control of his ki.  He had learned to ignore pain and discomfort, but that didn’t mean that he no longer felt it.It was still early, the sky outside their little shelter just beginning to brighten with the coming dawn.  It looked like most of the others were still asleep; faint sounds of snoring issued from further back in the cleft.  Kosk grabbed his robe—what was left of it, the garment was starting to come apart at the seams—and made his way to the narrow opening that led outside.  He was already beginning to stretch his muscles when he saw something that brought him to an abrupt halt.The rocky hollow was full of creatures.  Each was about the size of a cart, with a long neck and tail sticking out from a bulbous body supported by squat legs shaped like inverted tree stumps.  Their hides were hairless and wrinkled, but looked thick.Most of the creatures had gathered around the pool, and were dipping their blunt heads into the water to slurp up water.  One turned its head slowly around to regard the dwarf with eyes that reminded him of some cows he’d encountered in his earlier days.“They’re herbivores,” Quellan said.Kosk turned to see the cleric sitting on a rock nearby.  He had a small leather book out and appeared to be sketching the creatures.  He had his armor on, and Kosk nodded in approval when he saw his shield and mace sitting next to him, within easy reach.“I gathered that when they didn’t immediately try to eat us,” Kosk said as he went over to join his friend.  “You taking notes for a book on the Weltarin fauna?”“I can certainly gaining enough data for such a study,” Quellan said.  “It looks as though the evolutionary paths diverged significantly on the two continents.”“Yeah, yeah.  I’m mostly worried if these things have predators that will try to eat us, like those creatures that ambushed us when we rescued that cat.”“It would be logical to expect larger predators, given the size of the herd animals here,” Quellan said.“You always know how to make me feel better,” Kosk said with a growl.  “Who else is on watch?”“Sandros.  He’s keeping an eye out on the other side of those rocks over there, just in case one of your predators decides to head over this way for breakfast.”Kosk nodded.  “Good.  Speaking of breakfast, do you think these things are edible?”“Perhaps, but I would not want to risk provoking them.  Even an herbivore can be lethal if roused to panic.  In any case, the tabaxi have provided us with ample supplies.”“For now.  But we don’t know how long it will take us to find what we’re looking for.”“If it comes to it, there appears to be no shortage of forage in this jungle.”“Fair enough.  Seems appropriate, given that almost everything we’ve encountered here has tried to eat us.”“It has been a difficult journey thus far,” Quellan said.“We’ve seen worse,” Kosk said.“Aye.  We have.  But there are still unknown dangers to come.”“There always are.  So what do you think we’ll find in this gods-forsaken city?”“An interesting choice of words,” Quellan said.  “I do not know.  I have considered asking Hosrenu for guidance, but it seems that we will find out for ourselves soon enough.”“I have wondered if Bredan knows more than he’s letting on,” Kosk said.“Bredan wouldn’t put us at risk,” Quellan said quickly.“I’m not saying he would.  I’m just wondering if he’s fully objective.”“I don’t know if any of us can say that we are.  But we cannot let him go through this alone.”“Of course not.  But we may have to save him from himself.”Any response Quellan might have made was interrupted by the sounds of activity from within the sheltered nook.  A few moments later Malik appeared, followed by Kalasien and then Glori.“Woah,” the bard said as she caught sight of the placid herbivores.  The curious one that had glanced at Kosk earlier turned its head toward her and let out a deep lowing sound.  “Cool.”“Careful,” Quellan said as she went over to it.  The creature took a wary step back, even though her head barely came up to its shoulder.“I won’t hurt it,” she said.“I don’t think he’s worried about it,” Kosk said.Glori merely grinned back at them and ran her hand along the creature’s wrinkled hide.  “Feels like old shoes,” she said.Bredan appeared from the hollow, already clad in his armor.  He gave the dinosaurs barely a look before he turned to the others.  “We should get moving,” he said.  “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today.”There were a few groans, but the members of the little company headed back into the nook to gather up their gear.What had seemed like a reasonable distance from the ridge above turned out to be anything but once the company reentered the jungle.They acutely felt the absence of their tabaxi guides.  Rodan did his best, but the growth was even denser than it had been on their way here, and the forest floor remained mired in shadows even as the day matured.  If anything, it was even hotter, and soon even those not wearing armor were drenched in sweat.  Quellan was able to keep them all hydrated through liberal use of his create water spell.Unfortunately, the cleric could do nothing about the swarms of tiny insects that accompanied their every step for most of the day.  It was a miserable and exhausted group that stumbled into a small hollow formed by a pair of fallen trees that Rodan had located as the sun waned.  The canopy remained so thick above that their only way of knowing that was when the light started to fade.  Night came on so swiftly that Quellan had to summon his light spell to help them clear a space and prepare their evening meal.The heat and humidity had already ruined some of their consumables, but the tabaxi had also given them a supply of nuts and dried fruit that held up better over time.  Rodan had shot an odd-looking monkey thing about the size of a dog that he cleaned while the sailors gathered wood for a fire.  They were all alert to the danger of the cooking meat attracting a hungry predator, but with the rigors of the journey they needed something more substantial than insect paste.But they had only just gotten the fire started when a loud crackling noise within the brush around the hollow got their attention.  They all reached for their weapons, but were still surprised when a blunt-shaped head the size of a barrel poked out from the growth and peered at them with fist-sized black eyes.</blockquote>

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