Animal encounters IThe dwarf Higginbottom III, sworn enemy of the surface-dwellers, was performing an unpleasant but necessary labor, that technically counted as an action against the hated surface-dwellers. He was removing a cage from a cage trap, so the trap could be reloaded with a new cage, and the animal in the cage could be processed. It was unpleasant because it required him to go out on the surface for a reason other than to kill something. It counted as an act against the surface-dwellers, because the rhinoceros in the cage he was carrying would soon be processed into bone and hide for crossbows, bolts, and armor.
As Higginbottom III carried the remarkably heavy rhinoceros cage back down the entrance road (lifting with his knees, not with his back) there was a rustling in the disgusting surface plants off the side of the road. Some vast scaly was rooting through the underbrush, a slimy worm-like tongue probing for food.
Higginbottom III dropped the cage, and pulled out his flail. Now would be his chance to kill a surface-dwelling monster!
The creature ambled onto the road in front of him, sniffing at the conglomrate flagstones. It paused, as it finally saw Higginbottom III. They faced off across the skeleton of a long-dead kobold, long since smashed flat and ground into the road by wagon wheels.
Higginbottom III raised his flail and charged, screaming. The towering scaly monster, four times his mass, with claws capable of tearing open the nests of giant termites, responded to the challenge by immediately rolling into a ball.
Higginbottom III continued his charge, flail raised to tear the scales from the monster.
Sensing that its attempt to hide wasn't working, the pangolin uncurled, and then immediately turned and ran.
Terrified, the creature veered left, trying to reach the relative cover of a group of nearby trees. It didn't make it. As soon as it left the road, it stepped onto another cage trap, instantly becoming trapped in another cage.
"Dammit! That's cheating! Come out and fight me!" Higginbottom III whacked his flail against the side of the cage, uselessly.
Erush was glad to be back working full-time at his shop. The elf-made cloth was inferior to what the dwarves or even humans would bring, and he was really missing working with silk. If only the last year's caravan hadn't been scared off! Still, even with inferior cloth, he was still enough of a genius to make masterful clothing.
He just wished he could do something about the color.
That ObeseHelmet guy was really keen to get some of the elf-cloth. Kind of creepy, actually.
"Cilob? What the heck are you doing up there?"
"Training a giant sparrow, of course. Oh, when you get a chance, ask Phenix to build me a ramp so I can get down?"
Cain checked the child's forehead again. Still unconscious, still fighting to recover from the terrible injuries she'd suffered. He'd removed her bandages to clean her healing wounds twice so far. He'd keep doing this as long as it took.
"So, it's a mug, made of salt?"
"Yep!"
"Datan, that's the most useless thing I've heard of. Nobody can drink from a salt mug. Why did you make such a pointless thing?"
"Cause it was funny!"
Animal Encounters II"Invasion! The fortress is under attack!"
Cilob called down from the fortress wall where he'd managed to strand himself again.
"Call the militia to drive them away!"
Va'al, Phones, and Jacen the Soap Crusader came charging out of the fortress gates. From the yelling, they were expecting goblins, or maybe unusually bold kobolds. The for that faced them was not quite so dangerous.
"What, those things? Are you mad? They're harmless."
"They're useless, is what they are" Cilob replied, "Can't eat them, can't use them for war, they breed like mad. I don't want to bother taming them, and I don't want them using up cages that could be holding more valuable creatures. Just drive them away from the cage traps."
The soldiers shrugged and went to work. The cavies screamed and scattered. Va'al caught up with the herd first, and set about slashing the creatures apart with disturbing enthusiasm.
Phones followed behind, more to watch out if anything more dangerous appeared. He turned, looking around. Where the heck was Jacen?
Far to the south, Jacen had found a more worthy opponent. A giant carnivorous lizard, large enough to swallow a dwarf with a single bite. It was just barely managing to stay ahead of him - and was starting to consider just turning around and fighting back instead.
"That thing will tear him apart. Come on, Va'al, we'd better help him out."
By this time, Jacen had chased the creature around in a circle, and was heading back towards the fortress entrance. Phones approached the creature from the front, while Va'al circled around to back Jacen up.
The Giant Monitor Lizard had been just about to turn and attack the annoying little creature chasing it, but the arrival of another shifted the odds. It resumed running, only to spot a third in its path. It tried to run past the metal-clad dwarf. This was a mistake.
Behind them, the scattered cavies cautiously gathered back together, trying to reform their herd. Unfortunately for them, they gathered on the cage traps at the fortress entrance, many of them being captured.
Up on the ramparts, Cilob shook his head. "Useless creatures. Let someone else train them, I have a giant pangolin to tame."
