The Road: Alvec Snaptail

Alvec examined the deed as best he could; it didn't contain much detail, just a lot number and the street name. Scythfell Street, in the city of Sha-Laial. He'd have to get there first and then figure out the rest later. Mavec and Naya waited with their animal companions, ready to depart. The festivities at Cellochts had been only a few hours, and there was still plenty of daylight left for them to travel by.

"So why are we going there first?" Naya asked again. Alvec nodded to her.

"I'd been planning to go to the academies with whatever samples we find, but if we have our own base of operations, I can conduct studies on it myself without needing to get them involved," Alvec said with a smile.

"Do we not want them involved?" She asked as she furrowed her brow.

"Look, Naya," said Mavec. "The academies are full of smart people, but everyone is looking for their breakthrough. They might help cure your village, but they'll also parade them around for the world to see beforehand. Alvec and I will keep it a lot more hush-hush. Make a small publication of it to show off what we've done but without all the fanfare."

"Alright, to Sha-Laial, it is," She said while as she burried both hands in Echo's mane and fluffed it violently. A pair of footsteps approached the group. One long and one excited and short.

"Excuse me, but I was wondering, would you happen to be heading to Sha-Laial right away?" Illaria asked as she neared the trio. "If so, my companion Bait and I would like to be joining you. Bless him; he's got his heart set on getting more of the cheese they were serving here, and Archer's Market is only a day or two walk from Sha-Laial. Thought perhaps we could be traveling together, safety in numbers and all that."

The group exchanged more official introductions. Bait needed a few reminders of who people were, as he hadn't paid much attention to names or deeds, doubly so after he had acquired the fog horn. Mavec was not thrilled to travel with a goblin but begrudgingly agreed that having two extra sets of eyes would make him feel safer as they traveled toward Sha-Laial.

The group headed down the lightly wooded roads. Pine trees, maple, and oak made up the majority of the trees in the Empire. The further north you traveled, the more Pine and Spruce you saw. Alvec liked the scent of it in the air. They proceeded in near silence; their goal was to make it to the river town of Jai-Olninlo. A few hours passed, with short little breaks and casual conversations. A scream and the sound of combat eventually broke this trend. Off to the side of the road was a lone traveler, something which defied any name Alvec knew. The creature stood about 6 or so feet tall in total. Its legs were that of a crab, but only three existed. Where its torso should have been, there was nothing. From its waist drifted up underwater plants like kelp, and a glowing orb rested obscured within them. From it also came an extraordinarily long whip-thin tail dripping a yellow ichor as it darted around. The man, wearing a forest green cloak over a cream shirt and tan pants, did his best to fend the creature off with a short sword. They exchanged several blows as the party closed the distance.

Eventually, the tail pierced the man, and he fell backward, and screamed in agony. Illaria moved first, unsheathed her wakizashi and closed distance on the creature with surprising speed. Her sword struck it in a flash. The wound sizzled when exposed to air, and the same strange ichor sept from the injury, while the wound emitted a scream like a deep whistle.

Alvec wasted no time calling up a familiar spell, a translucent veil of arcane energy wrapped around him, mimicking the look of a chain shirt as he closed the distance. Rem hopped off his master and grabbed the wand of healing stored in a holster on Alvec's leg. The fox rushed to the man and attempted to activate the wand. The tip flickered with white light but failed to fully start. Activating wands was still tricky for the young familiar. If he had a lot of time, he could pull it off, but in an emergency, it was risky. Rem yipped in annoyance.

Mavec stayed back but sent Piccora charging forward. He muttered the usual incantations, and Piccora flickered with electricity the moment before she barreled into one of the creature's legs. The contact was enough, and the spell's deadly electricity coursed through the creature's shell. Bait took aim and shot two bullets into it. The creature reeled and stumbled somewhat unsteady as it took an exaggerated swing at Alvec.

The stinger, still dripping with that angry yellow substance, nearly found purchase on Alvec. At the last second, he interposed his shield and saved himself from whatever foul fate awaited the man on the ground. Naya and Echo arrived a moment later. Naya got in a single good slice on one of the leg joints, and Echo bit down where her sword had sliced and shook it violently. The sinew of its legs tore like ropes fraying, and Echo pulled the entire leg off. The creature stumbled on its remaining legs for a moment, its tail whipsawed around, trying to stabilize itself, before it finally collapsed and started to smoke and dissolve. Alvec pulled out a glass bottle with a solid rubber stopper from his pack and tossed it to Mavec. "Get a sample, quick!"

Mavec caught the vial and quickly scooped some of the creatures dissolving flesh into it. Alvec crouched beside the man, grabbed the wand from Rem's mouth and made ready to use it.

"Tyir!" The man gasped and thrust a leather journal at Alvec. "Trust no one… K-Kaavas," The man's right eye swelled out of his skull. It popped, spraying blood and pus over Alvec. With one last heave of breath, the man went limp, his head deflated like a rotten melon. The man's body dissolved before their eyes.

"What in the hells was that?" Naya asked.

Mavec moved over Alvec's shoulder to inspect the man but quickly backed away. He pocketed the sample and grabbed a cigarette, his hands shook as he lit it.

"Which part, the creature or the exploding eyeballs? By the gods, what the fuck is going on here?" Mavec asked. Kaavas: it was a name that much was clear to Alvec. He couldn't hazard a guess as to what or to whom it belonged. Tyir, another name. This one stood out to Alvec, though. It was a name that sounded Tiefling in origin. He frowned at the thought. Whoever this Tyir was, getting this journal to him was more important than trying to heal the damage. Not that Alvec was confident they could have saved this man even if they had tried. These wounds were inconsistent with the sort of damage he had used wands to heal before.

"I don't rightly know what that was," Illaria replied while she inspected her sword. The beast's blood was evaporating from the blade as well. Alvec pulled out his spell book and, in the back pages, did a rough and dirty sketch of the beast from memory. He'd have loved to have had the time to draw a detailed diagram, but its dissolving left little time to act. It was about preserving as much truth as memory permitted before it slipped out of focus. The group spoke for a moment, as they observed the surroundings. With no body, it was clear they wouldn't need to dig a proper grave for the strange traveler. Instead, they placed a few stones stacked upon each other to mark where he passed. Perhaps if they found this Tyir, they could learn the man's name and give him a more proper service. The odds of Tyir being out on a country road seemed slim. Who could say how long it would take to find the man. If they ever could. When they got a chance to rest off the roads, Alvec would do his best to see what this journal contained.

"Well, there isn't anything else we can do here for the poor fellow. Shall we be moving on? I'd like to be off the roads before we have a chance to run into any more of them," Illaria said. The party exchanged glances before heading forward again. Despite their detour in the woods, the group had made good time getting to the next riverside town. The sun was only beginning to sag toward the horizon. "I'll be finding us suitable transportation," Illaria announced as she broke off from the group.

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"Hey, I'm coming with you; we need to make sure they can accommodate Echo and Rem," Naya said. Bait said nothing as he wandered off into the crowd.

"Be back by sundown!" Illaria shouted after him as his short green head disappeared into the small crowds at the shops.

"I'm hitting the library. Maybe they'll have something about whatever the hells that was," Mavec stated. With that, the group broke in various directions.

Alvec walked with Rem nestled on his head and Echo at his left hip. He appreciated Naya sending Echo with him, but it was also a little irksome. Sure, he was a wizard, but he wasn't as frail or fragile as Mavec. He clapped a hand onto his mithril buckler, reassuring himself that he was fine and didn't need a guard dog. This small shield, made of rare and special metal as strong as steel yet light as a feather, was all he needed to defend himself. Admittedly, Echo would make short work of any bar fights, but Alvec wasn't really planning to start any. He entered the first tavern he found, and the room went silent. He let out a discontent sigh. While Ageneon's proclamations protected Tieflings from legal discrimination, they did little to change public opinion. One walking in with a giant wolf at his side and a fox on his head must have made for a strange and possibly intimidating sight. "An ale, please," Alvec said as he reached the bar and gave Echo a quick hand sign to sit. Echo thudded his butt onto the worn wooden floor.

"Coin first for newcomers, 5 copper." Alvec whistled at the cost.

"Little steeper than I usually pay. Wonder if it's a little better," Alvec mused loudly as he slid five copper coins onto the table. He wouldn't accuse the man of overcharging him, but he wouldn't pay the price happily or quietly.

"Best in town," The bartender countered, sliding him the mug. Alvec took a long drag. He wasn't particularly fond of alcohol, to be honest, but it was customary to buy a drink in a bar. Coming here and asking questions without partaking in their beverages would be strange. It wasn't too bad, certainly not too strong, and honestly, without a cleric with them to purify water or without breaking out his portable alchemy kit, it was the best way to make sure he got some clean water. As far as its quality, it was middling. He probably should have paid a piece of copper less. It was tough to say, though, if this was usual for a passer-through or if it was... well, something else.

"Do you happen to know a fellow named Tyir?" Alvec asked after waiting a few moments. "He may be a Tiefling like me."

"Can't say I do; we have all sorts passing through here. Most don't give a name." Alvec nodded; it had been a long shot, but it was better to take a shot and miss than miss an easy shot. He finished his drink, left a small tip of two more copper, and returned to meet his traveling companions. There was a lot of road and river between them and Sha-Laial.

Bait

The small goblin weaved in between the people in the crowd. Mostly humans, many of them too clean and well groomed. None of them carrying emergency cheese, a great insult to Goblin kind, or at least to Bait. Illaria no tell Bait to be on good behavior. Bait free to do whatever he wants. The small goblin bumped into his first mark. Slow-looking human, plump, old, maybe a bit drunk. He'd never notice his coin purse a few gold lighter. His fingers quickly found their mark, and he slipped a few coins from the bag as he pushed off the man with his other hand. The pressure was far from where he had lifted the gold. He wouldn't realize for many hours, Bait hoped. A few more easy marks, and he would have all the cheese he and Bahzugs could possibly want... for a little while. Perhaps Bahzugs and he could have stinky cheese. Muenster? Maybe soft cheese. Brie. All good, all making Bait's mouth water. Bait loses track of Bahzugs a lot; Bahzugs best rat-dog; his dander make Bait's skin tingle, great sensation; love the gentle tingle and the fantastic red coloration that spreads over his fingertips.

Bahzugs good tracker; always find Bait, always find the emergency cheese. Strong scent help Bahzugs catch up. The goblin dog was currently off doing his own thing. This didn't worry Bait in the slightest. The small goblin continued to wander the town; nothing caught his interest outside of the few small golden coins he had palmed. Town too small to have good cheese. With little else to do, Bait wandered to the docks to find Illaria.

Mavec

The town's library was quaint... that's the word you use when something is small, cluttered, and dimly lit. Run-down or decrepit might have been better fitted, but quaint was the polite word. Mavec approached the desk and knocked on wood a few times before he heard some shuffling from behind a corner.

"One moment," A man in the barest sense of the word said before he lumbered up to the counter with a stack of books. He wore simple black robes with a simple bronze badge on a golden chain around his neck. His glasses were thick and wide lenses with simple metal frames. His hair was a curly blonde cut close to his head. Mavec pulled out his badge and set it on the table for the presumable librarian to see.

"I'm looking for books on monsters. We ran into something strange on the roads. I've never seen anything like it before. Figured one of the field guides might have some info."

"Ah, yes. One moment, we've got several."

"Excellent, I'll grab a seat," He said before he glanced around the library some more. A small table in the corner seemed like it could seat two people comfortably. He headed over to it and sat down, crossing one of his legs over his knee. The young man returned shortly with a handful of old books. Mavec dissected them for anything resembling the creature they had seen. Lots of sketches of creatures he had heard of. There were tons of depictions of the old war clockwork soldiers that Alusai had created. While some of the illustrations were great, it was clear the person making the sketch had only the faintest idea of how clockwork machinery worked. They better understood plants and animals judging by the notes scrawled along the side of the page in neat writing. Maybe they were a druid.

Nothing sadly matched the description of that thing. Nothing even came close. Honestly, tripod crab legs, a body resembling kelp, and a glowing orb. A scorpion-esc stinger, and a toxin that caused the inflicted to dissolve into goop just like it had. It didn't sound like anything that Mavec had ever heard of. He pulled the small vial out from his pocket. This was all they had left of the creature. Out in the middle of nowhere, they didn't have the means to properly test it, magically or chemically. Leave it to Alvec, though, to be prepared. The guy seriously always had a plan, even if some were... questionable. Hell, his cloak required him to be exposed to fire before it would even work. It wasn't a coincidence that he also carried Alchemist fire on him. He had a daredevil streak, his bookish nature obscured.

After flipping through the last book, Mavec called out. "Hey, you have anything else? I'm not seeing anything useful in here."

"Oh dear, we might have a few more exotic manuals... could you describe the creature a bit? Maybe I've seen it before?" He asked from behind the counter, a good 20 feet away.

"Uh, yeah, let's see... had three giant crab legs, a glowing orb where its torso should have been, somewhat looked like, I don't know, kelp? Anyway, the kelp obscured the glowing orb, and finally, a scorpion-like tail dripping some noxious yellow liquid."

The boy blinked and stiffened up. "And you saw this on the road near here?" he practically squeaked.

"Yeah, my friends and I were heading from Cellocht's manor on our way to Sha-Laial."

"I... I don't think I've ever heard of anything like this. I'm... I will tell the town guard when I close up for the night. You killed it, right? Do we know if there are any more?" He asked nervously, fidgeting with the book in front of him.

"I sure hope there aren't more; the one guy we saw get stabbed had his eyes pop out of his head before evaporating. I'm getting a little nauseous just remembering it," Mavec admitted.

"By Kushang, think I'm barricading the doors tonight too."

"Wish I could do that; we'll be boarding a riverboat tonight. I'll have to try the libraries of one of the academies. Maybe they'll have something about these... things. If I find any information, I'll send it along."

"I'm not sure I want to know."

"Ignorance does little to keep you alive; you should know that already," Mavec said as he pointed to his badge. With a heavy sigh, he got up and walked to the door, Piccora hopping behind him. He stopped outside the entrance to smoke a cigarette and glanced at the sky. Gray storm clouds were moving in. He could smell the rain on the salt air. They were in for another uncomfortable day of travel, alright.