Not too long after we finished up breakfast Tim packed away his gear and rowsed the birds from their rest with a few commands and whistles, inviting me to ride with him on Bert. The mighty bird’s riding harness was less of a saddle and more of a mini travellers wagon strapped to its back with enough room for Tim to move around when not seated on the bench at the front. A few smaller packs hung from the riding platfrom’s sides like saddlebags leaving Bert by far the least encumbered of the flock. Fully upright he cut quite the imposing figure of fancy red and yellow Plumage only somewhat marred by the large waddle that jiggled ridiculously with every jerk of the huge bird’s undersized head.
The other birds all sported more understated tones of rusty red or brown speckled with bits black and white. While Their packs were also reminiscent of saddlebags, they were huge compared to berts. Rugged things of heavy boiled leather that looked like they could hold several crates with goods each. Even more various sacks and canvas wrapped bundles were strapped across their backs. Still for all that they seemed to bear it all with ease, stepping lightly and moving with a bobbing fluid grace as they shifted into a loose formation behind Bert.
We moved at a steady march that ate up ground at a surprising pace. Down one of the countless grub tunnels.
I was even more impressed when Tim informed me they were hauling a load of pig iron from a band of red kobolds that set up a small smelting operation over a local magma vent. These birds weren’t just strong, they were scary strong. They went on my new list of things I’m glad I didn’t have to fight as an adventurer.
Apparently this was all part of a regular cricut he ran. Pick up supplies, Drop off supplies, pick up ore, drop off ore, pick up iron, drop off iron. Repeated when needed. Though he seemed to take on more varied and far ranging ventures in between. Mentioning a handful of other settlements he’s visited in his travels.
It was all pretty interesting and gave a few hints on how the Dungeon actually operated. It was a lot more mundane and practical than the vague notions of it all being Magical bullshit I had in the back of my mind. He was also free with his opinions of the people he did business with. Most a good deal more positive than what he thought of Gork.
There were endless questions I was eager to ask about the Dungeon and nitty gritty of the way things functioned (So I can figure out how to exploit them). But pumping Tim for all the information I wanted would be rude. It’s easy to fall into the trap of seeing everyone around you as a game piece or a resource when you were a rogue. There were times and places for that kind of thinking but not being able to turn it off led to nothing good. I wasn’t gonna fall into that habit now. Tim was already doing me a good turn and I was gonna treat him with the respect he deserved.
Still, I had to hold up my end of the conversation.
“So, How’d you get into the giant chicken business? Seems like a pretty good gig.”
“Oh, not much of a story,” Tim said, clearly happy to tell the story anyway. “ Been pretty good with critters ever since I was a sprat. Wasn’t much of a surprise when I unlocked the option for the tamer perk. Worked a gauntlet for a while to earn the points to pay for it, Not frontline or anything. Doesn’t matter how good the pay out, getting your face stomp to death on the regular by delvers ain’t worth it if you ask me. Frontliners are mad bastards to one.”
Ah, so a gauntlet sounded like a siege dungeon, just like the goblin tunnels where I bought it. Be funny if it was the same one. Weirder things have happened.
“Eh, getting off topic. So, put in my time, picked up the perk, and went looking for a good beastie to tame. I hooked up with a pathfinder crew, mapping tunnels, scouting new wild caverns, marking down any spontaneous portals to the Outside. That sort of thing. Exploration teams like that are always happy to have a tamer along. We got lots of useful tricks that are especially handy if you might be crossing paths with unknown wild things.”
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Tim was turning out to be one of those people who just casually was way more interesting than you’d expect them to be at first glance. I loved running into those kinds of people. I once knew an old cobber who was a world trotting explorer in youth, Tim kinda reminded me of him. Pathfinding sounded pretty amazing and my regard for the goblin had bumped up another notch. Might have to look into that once I get myself Situated, could be a good way to learn more about the Dungeon’s nitty gritty.
“Well one time as it would happen, we stumbled on a huge jungle cavern. Can't see the other side sorta huge. Wild as can be. We were in there for two days and everything looked pretty low level, perfect for farming. Then BOOM outta nowhere we got whipped out by an ambush like a whirlwind of feathers and blood. Well let me tell you, It was love at first Disembowelment. The speed. the Ferocity. The Cunning. I knew they were something special.”
Not the worst meet cute I’d ever heard. Tim broke off the story as we came to partially Collapsed section of tunnel. The ceiling had fallen in connecting it to another tunnel crossing over above. With a few commands he had the flock jumping up into the opening. Powerful legs propelling upward with minor efferot, tiny ineffective wings set further forward on their bodies then you’d expect flapped wildly as they cleared the distance before landing with a dull thump. Tim told me to hold tight before Bert brought up the rear landing us in the new tunnel with a jolt.
“Let’s see a cart pull that trick eh mate? We’ll break for some rest and grub here.” Pointing down the passage Tim added. “Then a good ways down there is a nice little shroom forest where I like to make camp. After that it’s a straight shot to Pitfall.”
Tim set out a hefty bag of seed for the birds to peck at and craved some hunks of hard cheese off a small wheel for us to munch on. I offered up some mr. skitters jerky to go with it and Tim happily accepted. I tossed a piece to Bert too, which he snapped up without hesitation.
“So where was I? Ah, right. Me and the crew got shredded to rags.” The goblin said, picking up his story over our meal. “After we respawned at base camp I went straight to talking everyone around to helping me tame the beasties that did for us. They were… Less than enthusiastic about the idea. Still the jungle was a big find for us and the possibility of having one of its predators at our backs was enough to get them to come around. It took getting tore up more than I care to remember but I won baby Bert over in the end. He was a cute little scratcher fowl barely taller than me back then.”
Tim leaned over to give the colossal bird a fond pat.
“Now here’s the kicker. When I partnered with Bert my [Tamer] perk specialised to [Bird Tamer] out of nowhere all on its own and I was suddenly partnered with Bert’s whole darn flock! Best day of my life.”
Ok, making a note: Perk’s can specialise. Thanks Tim! If Perks can change on their own maybe they're not as dependent on interface access as I assumed. Things to consider.
“With Bert and the girls covering us, mapping the rest of the jungle was a breeze and We all earned a sizable bonus for the find. The whole region became a bit of a booming frontier after that and I decided to stick around for the fun and put my skills to use.” The godlin finished with a proud nod. “So, that’s how I got into the giant chicken business.”
I was too fascinated to not ask more about the [Tamer] perk. Tim was happy to expound on the topic and layed out the broad strokes for me as we made our way towards the shroom forest.
Turns out the [Tamer] perk was quite the little tool kit. It provided information on a beast’s condition, motivations, temperament, etc. Which of course makes it a heck of a lot easier to get a beast on side. Once you're on good terms you can offer a kind of formal partnership the Dungeon recognizes. If they accept, boom, Tamed beast. Which comes with a bunch of benefits, Like Tamed Beast’s share the tamer’s spawn point and the Tamer can spend their Dungeon Points on the beasts. That’s apparently how Tim’s flock of Scratcher fowl advanced to Dire Fowl.
Not gonna lie. I wanted the [Tamer] perk. A lot. I didn’t care how much cheating I’d have to do to get my greedy little grabers on it. There Had to be a perk black market or brute force method or something. Having a beast buddie of my very own was just too good to pass up.
Going. On. The. List.
The time passed easily as we travelled. Eventually I settled in for a nap after our conversation lapsed into a comfortable quiet. Sometimes it’s nice when things just work out.
~~~~~
Bert’s panicked squawks woke me.