KHAZUUL

Flint exchanges his sword for a dagger that he will throw if need be.

Seeing that the watchtower is surrounded on all sides by a low wall, the crew quietly makes their way across the battlements to take cover there. Water still pools on the floor of the open air watchtower, left over from the recent storms. A simple table lies in the corner, one leg broken. Its contents, a scattering of water-logged playing cards and a mouldy wooden bowl, lie in the water.

Cutwell then thumps loudly against a support beam with his iron fist, sending three resounding cracks echoing through the compound. The company watches the open door intently from behind cover. After a tense, silent pause, you see the shadows shift within the doorway.

An odd, fishy head sticks out of the dark doorway, wide eyes gawking, unblinking, into the light. The creature appears to be no larger than a boy, maybe four feet tall, and is almost comical in its awkward appearance. It becomes a little less so when a gangly arm reaches out, clutching a rusty knife, to grasp the door and slowly shut it. Shuddered windows crack open to the left and right of the door, and you can sense something staring outward from each.

"What is it?!" Sow hisses at the others, having taken cover behind the low wall of the watch tower. Her sling is no longer swinging, but it is at the ready, and the girl's nerves are bristling.

"Looks like some of them beastmen set themselves up in here, don’t it?" Cutwell says, figuring that the series of events made sense enough to him.

He keeps low and ready, not wanting to be the one to first start up a parlay!

"They seem a bit more timid than the other beastman we encountered. And smaller. Maybe they're beastkids? Or something else entirely. Should we try talking with them?" Freki whispers to the others while peeking over the protective wall of the watchtower.

"Beatkids." Flint chuckles at that. "They look afraid. I think talking to them is a fine idea, Freki. Do we all agree on this course of action?"

They did look comical, almost non-threatening except for the knife, but that looked more like fear than an actual threat. These fish creatures were hiding from something. He wondered if they were terrified or if that was their normal bug-eyed expression.

Glad for the vote of confidence he voiced his ideas.

"Who is the best talker among us? Let them talk, if the fish things speak the same language. Maybe some kind of sign language might work too, presuming they have any intelligence."

Sow is less sure of this course of action. In fact, she's pretty sure she doesn't like it. But all she says is, "What if there are a lot of them? Are there are bigger ones inside?"

Freki notices the hesitant look in both Saffron and Sow's eyes and nods his head to acknowledge Sow's point. He asks, "Any ideas about how we might figure out how many are in there?"

The heat is making the scruff of his week-long stubble itch, so he absently rubs his cheek as he thinks for a moment and then suggests, "I bet they're spying out through those shuttered windows. We could light a torch and throw it out into the middle of the yard, see if anyone comes to put it out."

"Or if this isn't worth our effort we can leave and go lotus hunting this afternoon instead? I really don't think they're beastmen. Their manner is so different than the crazed monsters we saw before, but they could still be dangerous and I'm not sure there anything in here that's worth fighting over."

Freki looks around at the others to see what they think.

"Watch and see if they jump." Cutwell decides, thinking that someone had to take the initiative. There wasn’t a diplomat whether the lot of them, looks like!

"If they jump, then we’re probably alright!"

"Oi!" he calls out suddenly, mimicking the sound he had made to draw Grimjaw’s away. He steps out from his hiding place and shuffles a few feet along the wall, to put some distance between himself and the others, in case arrows started flying!

Freki feels the tension rise when he hears the familiar call that Cutwell made during the Grimjaws attack. He waits behind the protection of the watchtower, taking a deep breath and muttering, "Well, whatever they are, we're about to find out ... I really don't think they're beastman ... there's got to be something friendly down here," he finishes optimistically. But his grip on the dart tights nonetheless.

Upon hearing Cutwell's startling call, the strange little fishman leaps into the air, nearly fumbling the knife. Seemingly unable to blink, it darts its head from side to side to try to spot the sound as it retreats into the dark doorway...

Then, suddenly, it jumps out and replies, in a loud, deep, baritone voice, "OOOI!" as if mimicking Cutwell. Then it promptly leaps back into safety of the dark lodge.

Flint visibly startles and then bursts out laughing at the antics of the fishperson. "He's mocking you Cutwell!"

Sow grins too, then croons back at the little fishy-fishman. "Ooooooiiiii!"

Her voice, of course, is broken and cracked and sounds frightful; the girl trying to carry a tune must be a tragedy.

Cutwell focuses intently, as if it were a puzzle to be solved. His face reddens slightly at Flint’s observation!

When Sow starts up, Cutwell goes again!

"Oi! Oi! Oi!"

He waits to hear for four sounds returned to them!

Freki laughs at Flint's joke and feels the tension fade a bit as he watches the interactions unfold with a big smile on his face.

In response to Cutwell and Sow's noises, the fishman ventures once more to the doorway, its movements tentative, cautious. Then, with a sudden burst of energy, it launches itself into the glaring daylight. "OOOI OOOI OOOOI!" it bellows, followed by an awkward attempt at what looks like dancing a jig upon the muddy ground!

Alas, as the creature spins, its webbed footing proves treacherous, and it tumbles ungracefully onto its tail. From the shuttered windows, honking laughter echoes forth (you detect two different voices) as the fishman scrambles for the shadows of the doorway. Is this clumsiness the result of sheer lack of coordination—a literal fish out of water? Perhaps, but you can't help but wonder if this tipsy creature is completely sloshed.

Freki gets up from behind the watchtower wall and encourages Cutwell and Sow to keep the "Oi" beat going. He climbs down the ladder into the courtyard and then does a little jig to the chant mimicking the fishman. He then pretends to trip over his own feet but gets back up and continues to dance watching for any signs from the lodge. He never strays too far from the ladder in case he needs to make a retreat.

Doubled over with laughter, Flint clutches his side and almost tumbles from his perch on the watchtower wall.

"Well, this is better than any play or fool's performance I've ever seen. I admit to needing this burst of frivolity after all we have endured."