Mushroom Man - In Character Discussions
"Now I ain't sure what happened," said Vee, focused on sorting the vines.
She separated them based on which needed to be retted, which she could strip already, and which were actually worth it for a basic, quick cordage. She grabbed a bundle to soak, and started working on removing the outer layer on those that didn't need a soak as she talked. Another trick she discovered growing up: if she kept busy, kept her focus on something else, she didn't get as angry. Usually.
"All I know is I'm retching my guts up, I hear yellin', then y'all already up here," continued Vee before she paused. She looked up, glaring specifically at Levi. "And if any of ya make some uncreative joke 'bout it bein' mornin' sickness, I'm gonna shank you. It ain't funny, and I ain't dumb like them bimbos that keep flockin' stupidly to Pa. Unlike them, I know where them babies come from, how to prevent it, and how to stop it. It ain't happenin' on my watch."
Vee went back to stripping vines, as she said, "Anyways, ain't tryin' to pour salt in the wound, but panicking is how ya die, yeah? Without knowin' what was chasin' ya, ya can't prepare for it on return. And ya get hurt 'cause you ain't thinkin' straight. But life lessons, I'm supposin' as y'all still such greenhorns to life. Just don't you ever be doin' that on my ship or I'm gonna toss ya overboard."
"And I know some of ya already mutterin' about not returnin' to them caves, but that ain't really an option, yeah?" continued Vee, glancing at Jericho, laying on the mat, mumbling. "If ya can't climb a wet ladder, how ya gonna climb a landslide? I don't mind helpin' with the cave, but I ain't helpin' with a landslide without good reason just 'cause ya got scared in the cave."
With vine in hand, she pulled just hard enough to ruin it, causing her to grumble and toss it to the ground. She stood up, opting to work on the limbs and logs, instead. Carving wood and snapping branches (instead of necks) was what she needed as she talked.
Biting down a curse, and shaking her head to clear the building anger and annoyance, she worked as she talked, saying, "Well what's done is done, and I ain't able to change it. I hate acceptin' that, but Dad says I gotta learn. So we just gotta plan now, yeah? Take yer moments to breath, but we got lots of time to kill so y'all better use some of that time for thinkin' next steps instead of lazin' around. That's how ya get jumped."
"Like what that guy was sayin' to you, yeah? I only caught the end of it, but heard enough to get me thinkin'," said Vee as she kept snapping and bending and breaking branches into a rough outline of a canoe. "That thing we fought? It weren't a mushroom. No fungus on 'em, just wet, slimy plants."
"Which," said Vee, turning to Lirtimya and Temperance. "Is somethin' for you two brainiacs to think about, yeah? I didn't know 'til I hit it, but makes sense why fire didn't work on it. Ya can't catch wet timber on fire, yeah? And it was soakin' wet. That's why if ya opt to use a fireship, ya gotta ram the other ship first. Outside ain't gonna catch fire easily, but ya get it inside where it's dry? Other ship don't stand a chance. Not that I know anythin' about that. But something for yer noggins to consider, yeah? If we come across another, how we dry it out or set fire to it inside? Maybe we can use my net to pin it down, yeah? It's wet and slimy. Salt may or may not work - either will help dry it out or will dissolve, but maybe some flour on it? We got some cookin' resources. Even some oil coatin' to get a good fire going, yeah? But only if we got ventilation so we don't choke ourselves out. Think about it for me, yeah?"
"Oh, and please get some fishin' in First Matey. This ain't lookin' like the quick trip we expected so better to eat some fish so we ain't wastin' rations."
Vee turned back to her canoe making, as she continued, "But as I was sayin', maybe them fungus men aren't the same as the thing we attacked 'cause what we attacked didn't have no fungus on it. And I'm thinkin' that 'cause we got that staff, yeah? Intelligent things make staffs. Oh, can ya take a look when ya get a chance, as well, First Mate? See if it's got magic? Hope it ain't somethin' they can detect to find us. But I'm a wonderin', what if them fungus men are like the merfolk? Misunderstood, but smarter than people be thinkin'? Maybe removin' that plant thing was helpful to 'em? Or maybe not. Point is, without knowin' maybe we shouldn't rush to any decisions here. Be ready to fight 'em, but also be ready to talk to 'em, yeah?"
"That's another reason for this," said Vee, lightly kicking the base outline of her canoe. "It keeps me busy, gives us another way across the steam, can use it as a defensive wall, or maybe we can trade it, yeah? Ain't gonna be as pretty as my canoe, but it's gonna be functional, and it's got many functions if ya put yer brain to it."
With a quick nod towards Rothuss and Levi, she said, "And when them plant things fall off, we can use 'em to block the path to the house. Ain't as good as a trip wire, but without Matty here to show me how he does it, we'll just have to make due with somethin' rough. Seen y'all trip over rocks before so it'll work"
With a big sigh, Vee sat down again to work on the vines. She needed something to start holding the base together, and her temper was in check enough for the more delicate work. Mostly.
"So here's my other thoughts for now. You priest, ya got limits, too, yeah? So save them spells mostly for healin' up the crew. Don't be plannin' too much else. Maybe save one for in the caves, but don't be wastin' them on stupid plans. And how much can ya bards sing good songs like that one Rothuss sang? Levi might need a bit of inspiration to figure out them caves better if ya got more good songs. Speakin' of, if one of ya are feelin' adventurous, see what's in the bottle, yeah? As Pa always said, don't drink somethin' ya didn't see poured or without a tight cap. And even then, if them origins are dubious, never do more than coat yer lips 'til you know it's safe. Just a small finger lickin' to figure out what it is."
Vee paused in thought for a minute, before she added, "And if we do find out them fungus folk are smart, we gotta be smart 'bout it too, yeah? Dad always said let others have a chance to talk. You get some good info when ya get someone to talk right. Unless they be tryin' to cast spells. Then ya gotta beat the hell outta them before they get the chance."
Vee shook her head, resuming her project, as she said, "I gots lots more thoughts, but y'all gotta give me some thoughts first, yeah?"
Rothuss leaned back against the wall of the shack and kicked his feet out to get as comfortable as he could. "Well Cap'n... I can tell you that the fungus thing was absolutely not the same as this plant here." He waved one of the fronds still attached to him. "Oh, hey, it's come a bit more off here. Nice!"
"Anyways, it looked like it was walking and it hit with it's 'arms'. It moved weird though. Slow, kinda, but still fast somehow. Hmm... how's the best way to put it? Maybe, kind of like watching a rock tumbling down a slope towards you. Looks pretty slow and gentle, until you realize it's actually bigger than you and moving hellish quick and coming right at you. Something like that."
"I tried to stay outta the way. With this thing weighing me down I'd only have been in the way in that small a space. Wish I could've though. I was about to get in there anyways when they managed to finally cut it down. Any rate, I was the last one up the ladder, made sure Jericho got up first after that crack on the head he took on that second fall. He was pretty shaken up even before that though. All kinds of upset. I think maybe that's why he slipped, too busy thinking to pay proper attention. I didn't stick around down at the bottom though to see what was coming because of this plant. Didn't want to risk whatever it was grabbing hold of a vine and pulling me back down, 'cause I knew the rest of them'd come back and try to get me, and they were all too beat up already."
He grinned and stretched. "Look at me, thinking all tactical-like! Anyways, I can't wait for this thing to fall off, I feel all twitchy, like I need to move around, but I can't 'cause of this thing. When we go back down there, if you want me to go first, happy to do it."
Vee looked up at him, momentarily stunned and slightly confused. It was even in her tone, as she said, "Huh, you got some surprise up them sleeves, Rothuss. I ain't promotin' ya to tactician, but least I know ya got some brains. Sometimes."
"And ya got good points EXCEPT I ain't sure we seen the same thing, yeah? That big, slow plant monster thing that beat up Mel and Levi ain't have fungus on it that I saw. I mean, ya, it was like a slow movin' boulder, but don't think it's a fungus folk like that guy was talkin' about. Thinkin' the fungus folk are somethin' we haven't come across yet. So we know there are them glue plants, them boulder plants, and we can guess there are fungus folk. Hmm, although if it's a wet, slow movin' boulder, think freezin' the water might help? I wonder if First Matey has any cold spells?" With a shrug, Vee went back to working on her cordage. "Unless you got them sneaks, Rothuss, we'll have to think who we want goin' down first next time, but I'll consider it. And maybe who needs some rope tied 'round them so they can, er, climb. But good point 'bout yer new appendage. Guess it'd be hard climbin' with all that extra weight. Bigger ain't always better, yeah?"
Temperance seated herself a bit behind the rest of the crew, listening quietly to the discussion as she observed Vee unleash her frustrations upon the makeshift canoe. Her fingers ached for the familiarity of pen and paper to record notes with; bruising and muscle aches aside, her mind was still muddled with vertigo from the abrupt encounter with the. Seeing her scattered thoughts on paper may have been easier to make sense of.
Still, she focused on filing away Rothuss’ descriptions of its movements. Though unsure on whether it had limbs, she could recall stomping and shuffling before it crushed itself directly into her upper torso. She also could have sworn she touched something akin to vines before her consciousness left her, but maybe the pungent stench of rotting vegetation and wet soil had clouded her mind.
Perhaps the creature was more susceptible to abrupt changes? Some plants were prominent enough to thrive anywhere, but they only encountered the creature in a specific cavern. If there was more to be dealt with, perhaps drawing it out of its homey little space and using different elements of distraction would help confuse it. Salt or flour would certainly assist in sapping up the slime and moisture, but Temperance wasn’t too sure how effective it would be in the case of one fully matured.
She pressed her lips together, pondering whether to speak. She loathed to join a discussion without proper preparation, and as of right now, she was uncertain on whether she had enough information about this creature of the cavern to make any conclusive statements. Alas, given her state, the only thing she could do besides walk was talk, and she didn’t think it wise to walk out of a discussion when Vee was snapping branches to reign in her temper.
“If the… creature is intelligent, then it may be worth giving it the benefit of the doubt,” she agrees carefully. “But in the case we encounter ones that aren’t as communicative, freezing it might be a quicker option if someone has access to those spells. From what I’m hearing, its resistance to fire seems to be rooted in its moisture. While I’m not too certain about its size, we’d certainly need substantial amounts of flour or salt to dehydrate it, especially if it’s of larger stature than the one in the cave. I’m also curious as to whether it possesses any acid or venom or toxin. Breathing in noxious fumes could have lethal side effects, especially in a place of little ventilation.”
Her brows furrowed together again as she attempted to gather her thoughts into something of coherence. “Speaking of the cave, it could indicate that it relies on some sort of enhanced vision to see in the dark. I’m not too certain on the speed of its movements, but stunning it or dispersing its focus might work to our advantage.”
She winced at the sudden ache at the back of her head and shifted to massage it. She supposed she should be thankful that the nausea hadn’t kicked in. She needed all the energy she could get, and throwing up whatever she was able to eat wouldn’t help with rebuilding her strength.
Rothuss flaps one hand in Vee's direction. "No no, I didn't mean it was made of rock. I was just trying to describe the feeling I got watching it move. It was hard to see in the flickering light from where I was at the back, but what I could see when we halped the injured out of the cave could have been plant-ish. If it was a plant, we could kill it just by giving it to Ratbone to take care of for a while. She ain't got a green thumb, for sure."
Trying her absolute hardest to not break the very lovely branch she was shaping in her lap, Vee set it down. With a finger pointed at Temperance, but looking at Rothuss, she said, "See? She's a brainiac. You? Apparently ya got lucky. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice and to the sharks ya go. Now let's go through this slowly, yeah? 'Cause I think many of ya got a concussion and ya ain't realized it."
"First," said Vee, holding up one finger for emphasis. "We got the glue plant. Levi called them snagworts. Now I ain't normally care 'bout botany names, but y'all starting to get confused. So we might see more of those snagworts, yeah? And maybe we should be usin' proper names for them to reduce the confusion."
"Second," said Vee, holding up a second finger, speaking more slowly. "We got that shambling plant monster. It hits like a boulder, yes, but I ain't sayin' it's made of rock, dimwit. And I ain't sayin' it's made of fungus. It was vines and slim. With all that loot inside, probably eats things with feet, yeah? Maybe even the owner of that staff, but we ain't gettin' to that yet. Maybe not until y'all stop being concussive."
"Third," said Vee, holding up a third finger and trying very, very hard to be patient and mostly failing. "We got word of mushroom men. Now them? We haven't run into them, but we can expect it, and we can expect them to potentially be intelligent, yeah? So we talkin' three different things here. And we ain't able to approach all three things the same way so we gotta plan around that, yeah?"
With another big sigh, Vee got back to whittling the branch into what would hopefully be a beautiful stern. Without looking up again, lest the minimal patience finally fail her, she continued, "Now, I ain't thinkin' the shamblin' plant monster is smart, but I do think Temp... hmm, Temp or Rence? Eh, I'll decide later. Anyways, I do think New Girl has a point. It was in a dark cave. Torchlight didn't seem to bother it, but I betcha sunlight would, yeah? Wonder if continual light might? And sure, we might gotta be careful about noxious fumes, but I wonder if acid might hurt it. You can poison plants, too, if ya try hard enough. Whatcha think, New Girl?"
Not waiting for Temperance to answer, Levi butted in. "Ugh, Vee, mushrooms are a kind of plant! I mean, up until Temperance taught me different I thought they were. So you know, it was all the same to me until now. But you're right, that plant monster was not made of fungus, but that cavern it lived in was COVERED in it. Floor to ceiling, giant pillars, all over the walls... and sometimes you define things by where they live or what they eat. Like cannibals. But now that it's going to be a problem, you're right, it makes sense to give it all a proper name. Personally, I'm very interested in meeting some mushroom men AND testing out that mystery bottle of liquid you got there, but maybe not until I've recovered a little bit. Wouldn't take much to do me in right now... and I'm all for sacrificing Jericho first if we need to, but I don't think leaving him down in that cave with something huge rushing toward him when we KNOW he doesn't do well under pressure would have been helpful to anyone. We know what direction in came in from, and we know how the waterfall mechanism works, and we know some of the geography of that cave now, so we're on better footing when we're ready to go back in. I know it's a day away, but maybe it might be worth going to town and picking up supplies? Do we HAVE oil or acid? We got all that money from the Moundy the Plant Monster, we could definitely spare a bit to be better prepared. Maybe some lanterns or something, I don't know. Do our magic people need any supplies? (Looks at Lirt.) Maybe the people in town know a bit more about this temple and this cave system? And once I'm not dizzy I might be able to sneak around in there a little bit and try to get some more intel before we all head in. Maybe Matty will be feeling better too. He's a sneaky guy, right? And..." Levi trailed off as a wave of nausea swept over him. "What were you saying, Temperance?"
Rothuss appears unconcerned about Vee's threat as he idly twirls a plant tentacle around in the air. "Anybody bring a bow? We could just stand at the top of the ladder and shoot the thing, right?"
"You ain't gettin' a compliment this time, but it's something to consider, numbnuts," said Vee, not even looking up at Rothuss as she finally fell into a good rhythm of building and cutting. "Or at least we get more of ya stayin' up top so we got a quicker escape to higher ground if we need it."
"'Cause nice as it'd be to go back to town and prepare, I ain't sure we got time for that," continued Vee, acknowledging Levi's comment. "It'd be at least two days travelin' there and back, and unless ya wanna go in at night, means we'll be goin' in on the mornin' of the third day. Now if it weren't important, sure, we could take our time, but we ain't sure there aren't priests down there needin' rescue, yeah? And if there are, we ain't sure how long they've been down there so ain't sure we got three, four days to kill. We just gotta be smart and resourceful about it next time we jump in. That's why I'm sayin' healin' y'all is most important thing them priests can do first thing in the mornin', yeah? And you can see what's in that bottle then, too, Levi.. Maybe we can use it to make a molotov cocktail. Hmm. Anyways, I think First Matey has a new acid spell. Either that or mages name spells somethin' they don't do to confuse all us non-magicking types."
"Okay..." Levi replied, glancing over at Jericho before going ahead with the next part, "but what's it to us if a couple of idiot priests got themselves killed? First of all, that's not our mission. Second of all, WE almost got killed back there. You think they'd give a shit if some of us didn't come back? I'm not sure I care enough to rush back in, is all I'm saying. I'd rather get fixed up and be ready to go back in and save anything might that remain, rather than hanging our lives on the fact that there MIGHT be some priests who MAYBE need help. Hell, for all we know, this is some kind of stupid church test. And I didn't sign up for this, I signed up for finding some lost supplies. I can't do that if I'm dead."
"While it ain't my favorite way to get someone to owe me, it's one way," said Vee, shrugging. "If we're real lucky, it'll be someone high-up in trouble that'll owe us a debt, yeah? At the least, we can always go in and yell, 'Anyone in there need help?' before we rush off to town."
Temperance shifted quietly in her designated corner, allowing the others to vocalize their viewpoints whilst she filed them away. The shambling plant monster, albeit sentient and mobile, could essentially be categorized as a scavenger. Regardless of whether it “ate” owners of the loot “with its feet” (as Vee so graciously put it), presence of decay and rot could only mean that it flourished from decomposition. And while she didn’t see any harm in utilizing freezing spells or exposing it to sunlight, she wasn’t too certain about the success rate of acid. Vee had mentioned the possibility of “slime” on the vines. And if that proved true…
“I… suppose there isn’t any harm in exposing it to sunlight or using acid,” she responded pensively. “Though if this shambling plant creature thrives on decay, it could be possible that it uses some form of acid already to break down its victims for consumption– not unlike how humans digest our own consumables.” Her gaze shifted towards the blasé host of the tentacle plant. All things considered, Rothuss seemed to have grown accustomed to the additional appendage stuck to his back. “Shooting it from a distance might be easier to achieve if we could engage with the creature in brighter light. There are limits when it comes to seeing in the dark, and unless we each held a torch or decided on some sort of signal to notify each other, arrows could very well harm a member of the party.”
A shame, she thinks to herself. The simplicity of it had been rather nice.
“And as for rescuing possible priests…” Temperance trailed off. It was always a dilemma, attempting to find some achievable middle ground between her personal opinions and those that the Church bound to her through duty. “I’d appreciate further clarification on that conjecture. The thought came up rather abruptly, and I’d like to assume there to be some existent reasoning behind it.” The pros and cons of either destination seemed to weigh rather equally to Temperance. Both would require relying on what limited manpower we have to ward off risks in the duration of the journey. One of them offered more resources and equipment, but it’d mean journeying all the way back to where they were. The other offered familiarity of layout, proximity, and materials to be further explored, but the only resources for healing were the presence of victimized priests that have yet to be solidified.
"See? Brainiac," commented Vee, her attention more on her project at this point. "Yer startin' to impress me, New Girl. Keep it up and ya might earn an actual nickname. Only First Matey has gotten that honor so far."
"So what I'm hearin'," said Vee, tightening a knot as she spoke. "Is you magic-types see what spells of cold and sunlight ya got - after ya heal up the crew, yeah? Then at least two of ya gotta keep a torch on ya, and at least one of thems gotta go down up front. We make sure this time we got an escape route that's easy to access and ain't gonna turn off behind us. Capisce? And I dunno about the supposed other priests. That's from Rothuss. He found some cloak or somethin', yeah? Maybe we shoulda asked that guy about it when he came talkin' to you all."
"The landslide looked intentional, and there was a torn cloak caught in it, no body with the cloak. So I'm guessing they either almost got caught in it and barely escaped, or triggered it and almost got caught in it and barely escaped."
He looked up at the wall behind him and back down at the plant glued to him. "Huh, I'm missing a golden opportunity here. I've been practicing my climbing, having a handicap might be just the thing to learn a bit better..." Getting to his feet, he turned and started slowly and carefully going up and down the wall of the shack, up to the roof and back down again, varying his route. Several times he lost his grip and dropped a foot or two to the ground, but never very far. Very soon he was covered in sweat carrying the extra weight of the plant up and down.
Vee walked towards one of the fires in the courtyard, dripping wet, barefoot, and with her boots in her hands. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to take a dip in the too cold, but blessedly wet water on the bottom floor, but no one stopped her. After the large welt she gave Rothuss, one she hoped left a nice bruise given his stupid staff antic earlier, and that obnoxious priest accusing her of being a pirate (not that he was wrong, per say, but it was the way he said it and without proof that ticked her off), the little acolytes seemed to want to keep a healthy distance from her.
No surprise, she found the group knee-deep in whatever alcohol they were able to find. Not that all of them were drinking, but those who were? She couldn't blame them. What they saw was... well, a harsh wake up call for some of them about what the world had to offer. Of course, she'd seen disturbing things already in her slightly more colorful life, yet even she could acknowledge this was a new level of disturbing. That said, she knew alcohol could only help so much, hence her earlier swimming, but she wasn't going to tell them to stop, either. If anything, she still wanted another drink.
"How y'all feeling?" asked Vee, ungracefully sitting down just close enough for the fire to warm her but without it drying her out too quick. She set her boots to her side, grabbed a goblet, filled it half full, and took a swig of wine to savour for a minute. She sent a brief glare towards Rothuss, adding, "And if ya say yer head hurts, just remember that's on you."
While empathy was definitely not her strong point, she knew enough to recognize that her crew needed to be in decent shape to be useful. So, without pushing it too much, but leaving them an opening, she simply said, "If any of y'all want to talk about what we seen, ain't no shame in that. Most of y'all lived a more sheltered life, I think, so I understand if yer disturbed. Sometimes gettin' it all out there will help ya deal with it better, especially if yer worried about havin' nightmares later. I ain't gonna judge ya and I ain't gonna let anyone else judge ya. So, again, how y'all feeling? The good, the bad, the ugly. Get it all out there while we got a quiet moment to talk."
Rothuss is sitting crosslegged leaning against a wall. He tilts his head back and looks up at the ceiling. "I wonder what it'd be like as a podman?"
As empty-headed as you are now except with more hugs in your future, thought Vee, but she said she wouldn't judge them so she bit her tongue, drank more wine, debated punching him again in the near future, and waited for someone else to speak up.
Temperance gazes down at her neat writing on bound parchment, lips and eyebrows scrunched together in focus, her curls freshly-washed and wildly sprouting out in different directions. She finds little fault with those who wanted to indulge themselves tonight; she can’t quite tell whether it served as a drink of celebration or a drink of distraction, but she decides it isn’t her place to distinguish that.
People relied on various ways to cope, she’s beginning to realize. Some drink and socialize, some drink in solitude, and some occupy themselves with other activities. For her, it’s comforting to know that alcohol hasn’t muddled her mind. As gruesome and grotesque as it may have been, maintaining a sound mind and remembering seemed the most proper way to honor the suffering.
So she’d politely requested some parchment from the other priests, bound them together with pieces of string, situated herself as close to the firelight as possible, and began to write. About caves, about fungi, about Shambling Mounds and Stirges and Glowing Mushrooms and pods and—
A stray curl flips away from her face as she releases an exasperated huff. Her thoughts always ran too quickly for her hands to catch. She stretches her hunched form as her joints snap-crackle-pop. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Vee settle down a reasonable distance from the fire as she engages in a short conversation with Rothuss. Quite frankly, talking is the last thing she wants to do right now; everything’s so jumbled she’s certain she’d need at least another hour or two to get things sorted, but… well, her senior priest always did encourage to speak her mind when it came to working in tandem with others.
“Pods,” she states, her voice composed and brittle as she flips through her written notes. “Chambers of them in different developmental stages. Mostly robbed of their free will. They’re accustomed to some hierarchical structure, but ultimately this staff—” She gestures to the fungal staff resting next to her, “—serves as their…command device. We stumbled upon the library and the lab out of sheer luck and managed to escape the chambers we had to go through, but that cave is of complex structure. I’m sure there were more chambers we didn’t have the capability to explore.” She takes a breath, glancing up from her pages, “It’s easy to deduce, then, that there are even more pod creatures than we could possibly imagine. Humans may not be the only species they’ve subjected to their experiments. And I say they because I believe it takes more than one to power an operation as large-scaled as this. Undoubtedly unlawful, but for what purpose? Was it sheer coincidence that the Church of Mists is situated not too far from that underground cave? The Church seems to think that a Chupacabra is at fault for the disappearance of their priests, but it could also be possible that the individuals in charge of creating these pods are picking off any viable travelers regardless of their status within society.”
She closes her makeshift record book, her eyes sparking grim against the firelight. “It’d help to know why these pods are being created in the first place and how they’re going to influence the people living up here. Underground is damp enough to facilitate pod growth and any prying eyes, well… were clearly not supposed to make it back out. Jericho’s assumptions about an army in the making doesn’t seem too far off anymore, and Rothuss already spoke about how much bigger of a problem it’s going to be if the pods start moving up above. I’d appreciate hearing some different perspectives. We have some facts and some hypotheses running around, it might help narrow some of those down or get them to make more sense.”
Vee wasn't sure if the sigh she withheld was from relief or annoyance. Maybe she shouldn't be surprised so far. One was far more interested in the science of things and the other proved again and again to be completely unaware of everything unless there was a pretty woman nearby. The others might surprise her, but she did admit Temperance brought up an interesting angle to discuss.
Trying to keep the judgement to herself, she simply said, "Thuskar probably gives ya a good idea, Rothuss. Ya go from human to potentially imprintin' on someone to thoughtless. Not even sure they given orders or if they just reactive at that point. Not even sure they got souls anymore."
Vee shook her head sadly, turning towards Temperance, as she continued, "And I already see one problem with yer observations. It ain't luck we got out or stumble upon anything, yeah? It just is. Don't give Lady Luck too much credit or she's gonna start trying to exert her will beyond the seas."
"Now here's a question for you, Brains. Do ya really think it takes more than one or could they just operate long enough without kidnappin' for anyone to notice? Merithina says her caravan was taken on Penmanse, but the church says they ain't noticed anything outta the ordinary until the recent Full Moons. So that be about 23 days before Merithina was kidnapped, yeah? Yet a month later she was still alive so I wonder how long it takes to turn someone? They couldn't do them all at once."
With goblet in hand, Vee tapped the side absently as she thought, gaze elsewhere, speaking out loud. "Now we saw them baby pods, but we also saw them human pods. From what we seen with Thuskar, I don't think all pods be humans 'cause he sure ain't shrinkin' to the size of them nursery pimples."
"Oh, and we know it ain't just humans. We rescued a dwarf, yeah? Mighta disappeared, but dwarf was definitely there," said Vee, suddenly, pointing at Temperance before she drifted back into her thoughts. "So there a difference in what happens to each? Where them gloop babies come from? 'Cause I don't think kidnappin' is the only way the army is gonna be sustained, but I do think it's essential somehow, a specific part of the hierarchy that can't be filled with them babies. Or maybe they be forced to have gloop babies."
There was no hiding her shiver at that thought, nor her slightest glare at Rothuss, as she said, "It'd be horrible, I think, to answer yer question. No doubtin' that."
This time with a sigh that could be heard, Vee finished, "But I don't be thinkin' it's the Chupacabra. I think two things haunt these hills. That library furniture ain't made to sit a human, but when we hunted the Chupacabra, I found some boot prints that looked human or at least something closer to human size. But could they be workin' together? That is somethin' to consider given them goblins were involved both times. Only good thing from all this is, whatever monster be creatin' them pods never saw us. If'n we somehow get pulled into this again, given what we know, it don't know what we're capable of, yeah?"
Rothuss waves a hand airily about. "Unless somebody here really is in cahoots with them. I mean, it could be a coincidence these places are so close, but using random coincidences too often can spoil the story. Besides, we didn't see any podmen on the surface to kidnap anybody. How do they know when all the caravans and squads are leaving to ambush 'em?"
Temperance nods, listening closely to Vee and Rothuss finalize their thoughts. Perhaps they were right about those things; giving credit to coincidence and luck didn’t make much sense anymore. As Vee so pointed out, there was a bit of a gap between Merethina’s kidnapping and the Church’s more recent suspicions. If Priest Aien Mountainbane’s observations were the whole truth, that is. She presses her lips together. Thinking about the possibility that someone within the Church might be working along with this pod project left her mind in disarray. She’d hoped that reaching this Church of Mists would give her a sense of relief, but something about the whole establishment settled crooked and uncomfortable in the back of her mind.
And the fact that she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly made her instincts stand on edge was starting to bother her.
Tucking another loose curl away from her face, she commences a new page to write down some questions. What was the purpose of creating these pods to begin with? Were these pods capable of reproducing, or were they all victims of kidnapping? If the latter, how were they kidnapped to begin with if the pods weren’t capable of traversing above ground? Where did the dwarf disappear to? How trustworthy was this Church of Mists, and how much information could they share? If the Mists were generally associated with fortune telling, as Vee mentioned during their trek towards the Church, did that mean the Church could predict that their priests were going to disappear? Were there other ways to control these pods, or was it through just the staff alone? If it was the latter, what were they going to do about the staff?
Why was ‘Fahoorth’ the word that happened to open the cages?
“Fahoorth…” she mumbles softly to herself, brushing a finger over the written word. Not a term she’s heard before. A different language, then? Did it simply translate to ‘open’ of some sort? They’d grabbed some scrolls and documents at the library and the disturbing makeshift laboratory; perhaps it would assist in clarifying things.
Trying to ignore the storms brewing in her brain, she absentmindedly fiddles with the callus on her finger. “Priest Mountainbane seemed intent on some written report of our encounters. I suspect I’ll be taking over the writing part, but if the proximity between the Church and caves is less of a random coincidence as Rothuss mentioned, then… it might be wiser to pick and choose what we decide to report.”
Rothuss yawns, then randomly mentions, "Fahoorth is Throughhalf spelled backwards..."
