“Maybe ye ought to help her, Scritch,” Baldir said.

Scritch stared at Blast pensively before turning her head to Baldir.

“Do you want to try touching her bird?” Scritch asked.

Blast snarled in preemptive response.

“Fair point.”

Scritch let her tail flop and wriggled her feet as she waited for Blast to pull the bird closer and closer until she was nestled up to her side. She then began the thorough process of rooting into the bird to eat all the tastiest pieces. Scritch, aside from her initial disappointment, seemed perfectly fine with it.

Leoric and Baldir stripped the feathers and went back to cleaning their birds for the fire.

An hour or so later, birds cooked, they gathered their things to get ready to go in. Blast was finishing the last nibbles of her food, occasionally leaning over to drop a bone, a scrap of flesh or a head into Scritch’s lap. She happily crunched away as Blast ambled towards the fire to curl up on the last of the coals, content in her blistering bed. Scritch stretched out and walked to the fire, curling up next to it. The low glow shone on her dull scales and night took them softly.

Morning came at the break of dawn, not when the weary travelers were well-rested, but when they were awoken by the rude amble and clank of an ox-driven cart shimmying up the path.

“Oi there, adventurers?” a man called out. From their small cart and shoeless large feet, Leoric could squint to discern they were halflings.

“Depends,” Baldir said groggily as he bustled out of the cart. He wore his chainmaille and a set of grubby long johns that, if provided a few less threads may have constituted indecency due to their threadbare status.

“Depends on what? We’ve been sending out fliers for the past two months trying to get a party out here!” the man shouted as he brought his ox cart to a stop beside them.

The weary traveler furrowed thick brows and scruffed his rather-dirty hair. His feet were nearly brown with dirt, as if he’d plowed his fields with them himself. They could smell him from where they stood below.

“What appears to be the problem, sir? We’ve not been traveling for long and haven’t seen your query,” Leoric said as he scratched himself nonchalantly over his woolen robes.

“Our sheep have been disappearing! We’ve searched everywhere and keep finding goblin tracks,” The halfling said.

“Where are they headed?” Baldir asked with a grumble.

“That’s why I sent for a party. I’m sure as the gods not looking for them,” He said with an indignant huff.

“Well what’s the reward, then? I’d happily go take a look,” Baldir said proudly.

At the mention of reward, a sharp scuttling was heard as Blast woke from her rest. Scritch was stretching to wake and plodded towards them, yawning to show the rows of little dull teeth.

Blast peeked over the edge of the wagon with pinprick slits of pupils and an excited chuff and licked her lips.

“I don’t thinks we ought to offer no reward. It’s tha joy o a job well done for the good of the gods and your fellow kind,” the halfling said, puffing his chest out with pride, as if his sanctimonious words would save him the few coins.

When he looked up, Lios and Baldir already had their backs turned, packing up their things as Scritch stared up at him with bulging red eyes, dilated with curiousness.

She caught his gaze, unblinking for the longest time before he chanced a small wave of a grubby hand. Scritch’s left eye sank into her skull as the membrane slid over it and her lid gave a firm blink. It followed in suit with the right.

“Hi,” She said.

“Shouldn’t that be in a cage?” He asked, pointing an offensively dirty finger to Scritch.

“That’s nice, sir,” Leoric said as he rolled canvas back onto the cart.

Baldir looked over.

“How much will you give us if we do?” Baldir asked. Blast shot him a snort of indignation, but contemplated what he said.

“All you can think of is money, selfish vagabonds,” He said as he slapped his reigns hard over the sad looking Ox.

The ox trotted off at a rocking pace a little too fast for what the road and structure of the wagon dictated. From the back fell a cloth rucksack. Scritch reached for it slowly.

“Should we tell him he dropped his bag?” Leoric asked slowly.

“I take this as a gift from the gods,” Baldir said as they moved in to inspect the fallen bag.

Blast scampered down the wagon, snuffing around the bag before sticking her head into the cinch. She rustled around and pulled her head back with a mouth stuffed full of white fluff.

“Worst meat I’ve ever had,” She said before spitting the contents onto the ground.

“I think it’s bread,” Baldir said as he opened the bag and peered within.

Indeed the bag was filled to the brim with several kinds of bread made of fine flowers and delicately risen.

Scritch tugged free a loaf and took a bite of it, chewing with smacking noises as bits of the soft material gummed up in her throat. Her throat gulped with concerted effort until a bulge rose in her throat and slowly inched its way down.

“I like it,” She said.

“Any chance we could get some cheese or something with that?” Leoric asked as he looked up at the sky. A casual bird swooped by him and he stepped to the side just in time for a soft ‘splat’ to sound next to him.

Baldir joined in Scritch’s lead and took a whole loaf to bite into for himself, chewing happily as he meandered back to the cart and fished his flask free.

“Barbarians,” Leoric said before giving up and grabbing a loaf for himself and taking a resentful bite of the head-sized loaf.

Breakfast in hand, a bag full of warm bread on the caravan and a grazed mule later, they set on the road once more, wondering what they could find in the town up ahead.

“I know this herbalist in town. They should help us, but I have to warn you, they’re a bit strange,” Leoric said with a shrug.

“Gnome… Do you not know who and what we’re traveling with?” Baldir asked.

“Fair.”

As the sun rose higher and the sights of buildings on the horizon came into focus, Leoric squinted into the distance, looking for a ramshackle building on the edge of town.

“That building over there, the one that’s got green smoke lifting from it, that’s our destination,” He said excitedly.

“Does this ‘herbalist’ have the happy grass?” Blast asked.

“If she doesn’t, her father will,” Leoric said with a shrug.

As they pulled up to the building, a shingle came off the roof with a clatter and Leoric inhaled deeply with familiarity. The smells were overwhelming to the reptiles as they peeked out at it cautiously.

“Come on, someone’s going to be awake, and if they aren’t, we’ll just muck about until they are,” Leoric said as they bustled into the building.

A clean little store, neatly organized and meticulously labeled sat before them with spotless jars and straight shelves. It was unusual for an herbalist’s shop, which was usually full of its own chaos of things hanging on ropes from ceilings and spiritual sigils everywhere. It seemed practically clinical.

In the corner was a door leading to a back room and a doorless entryway to a deep cellar below. They heard the quiet click of tiny feet and Leoric searched around the counter to find a small footstool to climb up and look over the counter.

“Claire?” He called out.

“Be with you in a moment,” A shrill small voice piped up as a strange bright red crustacean climbed up over the counter and onto the moneybox.

“Can I help y- LEORIC!” the crab said in clearly feminine tones.

“Wonderful to see you. How are you?” Leoric asked, catching up with her on his goings on and current situation as Scritch sniffed around the shop.

Blast climbed up atop Baldir’s helmet once more and perched there curiously. Blast’s eyes got huge as she saw something, the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

A fish tank sat against the wall, all glass and stone as several brightly-colored fish swam lazy circles around it. Scritch smacked her lips and slowly climbed an adjacent shelf to look into the top of the waters.

Scritch looked around cautiously and slowly stuck a hand in to reach for a fish. It practically swam into her claws and she grabbed it in a simple flick of fingers. Quietly she lifted it and brought it to her mouth, sliding it into her throat for a slow gulp.

She made a soft noise and flailed her hands as a message from the gods came up.

“None the Wiser!”

You have managed to use stealth and diversion to your advantage!

+2 to Sneak skill

+1 to deception

+0 to intelligence.

Error: Max Intelligence score cannot be adjusted at this time.

Once it left her field of vision, she saw the distracted attendant and reached for another fish with quiet grace. It went down smooth.