The sun was starting to go down over the old ruins. Fenrear had been traveling several days on foot and this seemed to be as good a place as any to camp for the night. Since he had been haunted by the ghost of the man he ate, Peter, most animals seemed to be very skittish around him so the trip had been hard going. Fenrear started a fire and tried to get comfortable, at least as much as was possible.

We made good time today cur. We should be able to find the artifact that we need within these ruins.said Peter to Fenrear’s mind. Why are we stopping now.

Because we have been walking, or more accurate “I” have been walking for 3 DAYS! I’m not like you. I need rest and you need to find a new hobby. Fenrear groused as he turned on his side.

Well I would walk myself if you hadn’t eaten me like some sort of rabid heathen! Came the spectral voice.

Well I would walk a million miles to get you to shut up, so here we are. 

Bawk bawk! Clucked Kyle, Fenrear’s undead chicken.

Yes Kyle, I know you have been walking too.

Suddenly, the group heard a sound coming from the bushes.

Now what?

Tumbling out of the bush is a strange sight, especially in the middle of King's Valley. Tsarra sommersaults into the open and lands on her back with a flop. She has twigs and leaves sticking out of her clothes and the surface of her shiny skin has a few minor scratches like she had been crawling through the bushes. She seems wildly out of place here, not just because of her swashbuckler inspired attire, but also because she literally has webbed hands and gills on her neck. The firelight refracts off her scales as she sits up abruptly and looks around like she's assessing where she is. 

She narrows her eyes then picks a twig out from her...hair? No, it's not hair, but layers of fins. Then she looks at Fenrear and the chicken. 

"...Is that a pet? Or food?" She asks bluntly. "If 'tis food then ye mind sharin'?" Her accent comes out the more she talks. 

She rolls back then springs up onto her feet. As she dusts herself off, it's clear that she carries no weapon nor has any significant armor. She removes her hat and flaps it to remove the leaves clinging to it then pulls it back over her head. 

Turning on her heel, she strides right up to Fenrear and extends one hand while propping the other against her hip. "Pleased ta meet ye. Tsarra Krisrel, smuggler extraordinaire at yer service."

That was not at all what he had expected to be tromping through the forest. Fenrear is a bit concerned that what he is seeing is because of exhaustion and not an actual fish person. Kyle, are you seeing the fish lady?

Bwak bak. Chittered Kyle in response.

Kyle says you are not hallucination from bad lizard. Greetings, I am Fenrear. This is my undead chicken Kyle. Not for eating unless you are also looking to become undead.  Fenrear checks his pockets for snacks. After a moment, he finds and places a dead bird in her outstretched hand. Here is a treat for you. Please, sit by the fire.

What are you doing! Why are you inviting a stranger to our camp. Said Peter to Fenrear’s mind.

Because I hate you, shut up. Fenrear thought back at Peter. 

What brings you to the forest? There is no oceans in the forest yes? Fenrear sits down again by the fire.

"I mean, if ye want me ta be a dream I could knock yer lights out." She laughs. "A joke, laddie, I won't attack ye unless ye try anythin' funny. Ye look like ye can handle yerself in a scrap. Yer land meat too." She gestures at the chicken with a wink then takes the offered bird and plops down near the fire.

As she plucks the feathers from its body, she looks at the gnoll with a sigh. What a question, and boy, did she not have a good answer. 

"Sea's far off, Imma 'fraid. Got a bit turned 'round with all these damned trees. 'tis too hard ta see the sky or the horizon. I ain't the best with readin' the stars neither. That's the navigator's job, ye see?" She talks while waving a freshly plucked feather in the air. "No, 'fraid I am lost. But, when life throws ye in choppy waters, ye merely brace an' hold on for dear life. The storm'll pass ye by in time. Keep from drown' an' ye'll make it."

She's not sad per say, but she does obviously miss the openness of the sea. The land was no place for her kind even if they could survive there fine enough. Walking was a pain though. It was slow and made your feet sore. The sun was annoying too. It dries everything out and is too bright. She huffs. Land sucks. 

Fenrear understood exactly what Tsarra the fish lady meant. He was also far from home with little hope of returning anytime soon. But he decided he liked her ok. Most people would be put off meeting a Gnoll in the middle of a dark forest but she didn’t seem bothered at all. And bonus, she was the first living thing he hadn’t eaten in a week.

Sad tale, fish tale. Fenrear snorted a bit. You are very lucky. I have a very good sense of direction. You are also very unlucky. Directions say you are very very far from the sea. A thought occurs to him.

Tsarra fish lady, you are smuggler yes? This means you like treasure. I am in the forest looking for stupid baubles for….friend. If you can help me find baubles for stupid friend, I can help you back to the sea. No problem. Maybe other good treasures along the way. Fair deal, yes?

The triton groans and reaches for a stick to roast the bird on. Of course they were far from shore. This day couldn't get any better.

"There's too much land, I tell ye." She holds the bird over the fire as it slowly cooks from the heat. The skin crackles and sizzles as the juices start to run down the blackening stick. 

"Smuggler extraordinaire." She corrects then gets a curious gleam in her eyes. "Treasure, ye say?"

Treasure hunting was tempting. Though the logistics of searching on land instead of under the waves was lost on her. How were you supposed to search the ground while stuck walking on it? Maybe this dog-man could fly, or use his emergency land meat to scout the skies. It was a bird, birds fly, that would make sense. 

"Not sure how much help I'll be ta ye, but I got nothin' better ta do. A fair deal, aye. I'll help ye find these baubles for yer stupid friend, dog-man."

She's amused and finishes cooking the bird before tearing into its meat. The bird was far from evenly cooked, she was no chef after all. Some parts were very burnt while others still had a pink hue. It was probably cooked enough to be safe...probably. She didn't seem to care much. She's eaten worse.

Frenrear clapped his hands together happily. He was finally going to get some living company on this trip. In truth, he probably didn’t need the help but he was so lonely that even a pirate smuggler would work for company. 

No worries. We close to some ruins in this forest. Stupid friend says that baubles are hidden there. Good rule of adventuring is to not go into ruins by yourself. Unsafe yes? Much better to have fish friend. Lots of eyes to look for baubles. Fenrear took a big yawn. It probably wasn’t safe to sleep in front of a perfect stranger but between Kyle and Peter who didn’t sleep at all, he wasn’t particularly worried about it.

Apologies. I have no sleep for days. Lots of walking.

Baagawwk!

Lots of walking and flapping for everyone. Very tiring. Go to the ruins tomorrow, yes?

Fenrear curled back up next to the fire and tried his best to sleep. He had a dream about a deep dark hole. He could hear voices calling from the hole. Calling his name. He wanted to answer them but he lost his own voice. The voices started to slowly fade as he drifted deeper through the night. I’m coming…coming…

Once she finishes eating, Tsarra looks around for something to clean her greasy hands with. Seeing nothing, she gets up and digs a whole in the ground with her hands then wiggles her fingers. The hole fills with fresh water which appears out of thing air and she crouches down over it to wash her hands.^[1] Satisfied, she kicks the dirt back into the hole full of water then finds a patch of grass to flop down on. It's impressive, she falls asleep almost instantly after tipping her hat over her eyes.

In the morning, Tsarra is star-fished on the ground snoring. A centipede crawls around her arm then finds its way into the sleeve of her shirt. She twitches then startles awake. 

"Oh gods, what is that?!" She shouts as she jumps to her feet and flails her arms trying to get the creepy crawly out of her clothes. "God damned- get off, get off, get off!"

Eventually the centipede falls out of her shirt and onto the ground. She spots it and drives the heel of her boot into it with an audible crunch. 

"Stupid, leggy, land crawlers!" She shudders and brushes herself off. "Ugh, can't stand the buggers. Land is the worst!"

---

[1] Create Water

Kyle the chicken hops over and happily chomps down on the centipede.

Bwak bagah. Kyle chirps

Fenrear looks over. Kyle says thank you for the free breakfast. Centipedes are one of his favorites.

He gets up, stretches out his back and legs then takes a quick break in the little Gnolls room.

Stupid friend says the bauble is close. We go inside the ruins now yes?

Fenrear pointed down a broken path that was overrun with grass and vegetation. He could hear lots of wildlife around, chittering in the distance.

According to Peter, the “bauble”  that they were looking for was actually a magical amulet that had been in his family for centuries. Peter had come from a long line of Necromancers and the amulet was rumored to boost ones connection with the spirit world. Fenrear wasn’t quite sure how that was supposed to help them but Peter was very confident.

As they approached the entrance to the ruins, they found 3 pillars. Stop each of the Pilar’s were squirrel statues but no pillar had the same number of squirrels than the other.

Ughh a riddle. My great great great great grandfather was often rumored to think these things up. Said Peter to Fenrear’s mind.

Stay silent. I will think of nothing but whale vomiting for an entire day unless you have something useful to say. Fenrear thought at Peter.

Why don’t you ask the fish?

Hmmm looks like some sort of puzzle. Any thoughts?

Tsarra walks up to the pillars and stands about two feet away from one, looks it up and down with her hands on her hips, nods, then does this to the other two pillars. After circling around, she nods more then looks at Fenrear and with the utmost confidence of someone who is very self-assured and proud she proclaims...

"I 'ave no freakin' idea."

Puzzles were definitely not this fish's strong suit. She was better at solving problems with less intelligent approaches. Like hitting people until they're not a problem anymore. That said, there clearly was something going on with these pillars covered in fluffy tailed land rats. 

"These pillars got alotta fluffy-tailed land rats. Maybe we gotta go catch how many there are out in the forest an' do a blood sacrifice? Or maybe itsa math problem? Won't be much help with that, Imma 'fraid."

She's just grasping at straws and it is pretty obvious. She has no idea what this bauble is supposed to be or if it's worth all the trouble. I guess it better be or else Fenrear might not help her get back to the shore. 

"Ye look strong, can't ye just break in? Like with a big stick?" She asks the gnoll. 

Fenrear looked at his companion and could not tell if she was kidding or not. He had always considered himself as having an excellent sense of humor but sometimes it didn’t really translate.

Ummm  no breaking into a ruin. Or it becomes “ more ruined” Fenrear starts laughing hysterically. It as a little awkward.

Fenrear takes a closer look at the statues. Each of the squirrels seemed identical, or did they? He tried to pick them up but they were attached tight. After several attempts, nothing seemed to work.

Bewak bak bagah

No Kyle, that’s just ridiculous 

Bagah bak bak

Fine I guess if you want to try it. 

Kyle walked over and disappeared down a hole in one of the supporting walls. After a couple minutes, he returns. 

Bagggah bak. 

There is no way this is going to work. Fenrear walks around to the various squirrels and starts turning their tales in a specific order. Soon enough, a wall opens up to the side, leading to a narrow path.

Bak bak bak

Shut up Kyle. Fenrear motions to Tsarra to follow him down the path.



 

"Oh!" Tsarra exclaims as Fenrear figures out the puzzle and the doorway opens. "Would ye look at that. Yer smarter than ye look!"

She doesn't mean it as an insult, but it certainly could be taken that way. And also who was she to say that? The triton had nerve if nothing else. 

Following Fenrear down the path. It was very tight but she was small so she had no issues. Still it was underground. Fish plus underground equaled...she wasn't clever enough to come up with something that made sense in her head. But that didn't matter! She was a triton and triton belong in the sea! A fish underground was just a sad joke.

Tsarra wondered what kind of bauble this thing was. It must be pretty special to be hidden underground. Then again, where else would you hide treasure on land? Buried treasure was a whole thing, right? She didn't know. Most of time she would just find shipwrecks and salvage them by hand. It was easy. You just had to watch out for sea urchins and pesky crabs. 

The path continues down a ways and soon they are without light. 

"You gotta light? I can't see a thing!" She exclaims as she puts her hands against the walls to keep from running into them. She leans on one piece of wall that shifts and makes a grinding noise. Little lights start floating down the pathway, illuminating the space. 

"Aha! I solved the puzzle. Yer welcome!" She says smugly as she strides forward in triumph...only to feel a pressure plate click under her feet. 

"Oh. That can't be good."

A sharp crescent shaped blade swings down and slices her hat clean off her head. Had she been a foor taller it would have taken her head off in an instant. She looks down at the remains of her hat. 

"Damn. That was my favorite hat."

Fenrear dodges the blade and looks incredulously back at the Triton who is now missing her fancy hat. Please no touch things yes? The ruins not full of welcome mats. Fenrear definitely noticed the comment about his intelligence but it didn’t bother him at all. In truth, Gnoll in general had a very bad reputation for being stupid which was very inaccurate. They problem was they spent all of their time hunting and fighting so they just didn’t have time for traditional schooling. They also spoke Gnollish so the common tongue was a second language that made him sound dumb. I mean he was a Necromancer for goodness sake and that was hard!  At home, some people even said he sounded like a poet. Life could be so cruel sometimes.

They soon reached another room with a locked door. In front of the door ere two bowls, one was full of water and the other totally dry. Next to the bowl was a cup. This puzzle seemed a bit obvious but Fenrear figured it was was with a shot. He took the cup and tried to empty the contents from one bowl to the next. Every time he did, the second bowl would remain dry and the first would not lack any water. He then attempted to pick up the bowl and dump it but both bowls were firmly attached to the ground.

Tricky tricky yes?

Tsarra crosses her arms and looks at the puzzle before them. One bowl that is perpetually dry. Another that is perpetually wet. It had to be some sort of...metaphor for...a life...thing. Oh well, didn't matter to her. She had a puzzle to solve and a gnoll to impress.

She goes over to the bowls and inspects them closely as if looking for a clue. Pausing at the empty bowl, she tries to cast her water spell into the bowl and it does fill briefly, but then it goes back to being dry. She makes a face and tries it a few more time, growing increasingly irritated with the bowl as it continues to absorb the water. 

"AGH! Dumb bowl!" She kicks it and a shock of pain goes up her body. "Ooooow."

The short triton hops over on one foot over to the other bowl and looks into the water. She grips the edges of the bowl and shoves her face in the water, breathing the water in which makes it leak out of her gills on her neck. She couldn't see anything at the bottom of the bowl. Pulling her face out of the bowl she puts her hands on her hips. 

"Ah, screw this."

She tries casting her spell on the full bowl and it overflows....and does not stop overflowing...in fact...it starts to gush water without any sign of stopping. 

"Oh."

The sound of stone grinding against stone comes from behind them as the path they had just come down is suddenly closed off, trapping them in the flooding room. 

"Well, this is a situation, aye."

The room floods quickly until they are fully submerged. As the last of the air is squeezed out of the room, the door deeper into this tomb, or dungeon, or whatever suddenly opens and flushes them down another pathway in complete darkness like a scary flume ride. 

Fenrear coughs up water from the flooded room. Bllarrrkkkk. Hacckk. Fish lady likes that room yes. Fenrear starts laughing and coughs up some more water.

Bbwwaawk Bakkka bak bak!

Kyle says he was not a fan of that room and hopes you die. But, Kyle is undead so it’s probably a compliment….probably.

Bah bagah

Kyle, you are immortal. What are you worried about? Drowning? I was literally the only one in danger yes.

Bak.

Fenrear gives Kyle a look and the chicken quiets down. 

You idiots need to stop messing around and find the amulet! Says Peter to Fenrear’s mind.  Would everyone without a pulse please butt out? Where is this thing?  You are close. There is a lever over there, pull it. Why? So manticores can come try and eat me? No the manticore is probably asleep. What! It’s a joke, calm down. The lever is a short cut to the bedroom of the grand mage. That’s where you will find it. 

Fenrear walks over and pulls the lever on the wall. As he does, a panel opens up leading up to another chamber. Fenrear can feel the look he dips getting but doesn’t feel like giving any reasons at the moment. He motions Tsarra to follow.