I had to pause in the middle of yesterday's account, as I was just too tired to continue writing last night. So I'm quickly taking a moment this morning before we head out to log the remainder of yesterday's events.
It was very interesting to arrive at the Lizard Peoples village. They had settled an area of fairly dry land, inter-spaced with a huge Geyser and numerous mud pots. All-in-all it was thoroughly beautiful and
ing at the same time, but I made the best of it, since my mobility was slowly returning.
My companions who were captured with me were not so lucky. They were very bruised and large lumps were forming where they had been knocked unconscious. But a short time after we were set down by one of the mud pots, they stirred and slowly came too.
About that time, a slender lizardman, wearing some sort of headdress, walked over to us and squatting down, pulled out a wand from a belt and healed each of us. But he left us tied up, so I was still a bit wary.
"Do any of you speak the true tongue?" he asked us, speaking Draconic. I could see my companions glazed look of incomprehension, so I spoke up for us having studied Draconic for years.
"Why have you attacked us and why did you heal us?" I asked as respectfully as I could. I had never really SPOKEN Draconic conversationally before, having read and translated more than spoken it.
The creature barred his teeth and hissed, quite a scary sight considering all those sharp teeth, but I realized he was laughing.
"We saved you from the Sleep-walking." he continued, "We have seen many come into the swamp, being compelled to walk to the fortress at the far edge of the swamp. We decided to put a stop to it, as their numbers threaten our homes."
Talking with him and translating for the others, we came to realize that there had been a terrible misunderstanding... and I begged that he find our companions and bring them here. I also expressed our deep sorrow at the loss of his friends who had died in the struggle.
He was stoic about the loss and accepted our apologies, though he refused to blame us for the deaths. They had suffered much at the hands of the 'shadow walkers' who had been raiding their villages and taking captives back to the fortress. His own mate had been taken in a raid.
Our companions were found and we were reunited in the village. As we were explaining what had happened, a mass of tentacles lashed out of the mist and grabbed the chief. I saw him go rigid and shouted a warning as the rest of the creature came into view, hovering about the ground, looking like a huge brain with a beak and tentacles.
Moving towards the creature, I also noticed shadowy creatures coming toward us through the mist... they had blurry outlines that couldn't be entirely accounted for from the mist.
(more to come...)
