Today was a bit of mixed bag. Right now I am in Piranha Bog staying at Oscar's home here. Many other lizard folk have made it their home despite the fish it is named for. I didn't expect them to be so big, some the size of a trout. Oscar told us that a school of twenty could devour the corpse of a man leaving nothing but his skeleton in less than ten minutes. Judging by the amount of heads hung on these walls I think he figured that out by testing it. I don't know who they were but it's a gruesome thing to see a person's head mounted like you would an elk or pig. Although in a way it must mean he respected them when they were alive.
It was daylight when I rejoined everyone. Strangely I felt better than I had in a long time after the night full of unpleasantness. Breakfast was much more normal, eggs, bread, and a little bit of sausage. I'm a bit worried about Zanvar though, he again didn't eat. We've been together for nearly two days now but I haven't seen him once eat something. A man needs to eat, he needs his strength. If he doesn't have something by tomorrow I might have to talk to him about it.
We were mostly silent for the hours of walking to the Squawking Pass. Oscar warned us about the noise and wild life there. I hadn't taken him seriously until we neared the jungle. We could hear it before we could see it. Eric had wrapped bandages around his head and stuffed his hair over his ears to dampen the noise. I tried to imitate him but I had less success. It took a little while to communicate while we walked along. Oscar pointed out a toucan with a razor sharp shining beak. We agreed that it would be our quarry and I was off after it.
I had gotten ahead of Oscar and chased the toucan down to a towering tree with roots so large they looked like downed trees in their own right. It lighted on one of these mossy roots. When I was about to take my shot Oscar came barreling out of the brush beside me and threw off my aim. My arrow flew into the tree far from my target. He was trying to hiss something at me but I couldn't hear him over the swelling caws of birds. Parrots the size of Oscar swooped down to the ground from above the canopy screeching battle cries.
We fought for our lives. Ducking talons, slashing wings, crushing brittle hollow bones. Oscar's cannon was the only thing I could hear over the birds. He had quickly singled out the largest of the flock, leaving the five of us to fight the four others. My bow did me well when I was able to use it but the birds were aggressive and my swords saw more use. Eric kept me and Urghat in one piece as we fought, he did spill his own share of blood though. Few threw bolts and blew huge lines of fire. Zanvar helped to protect her when she was the targeted.
Urghat threw herself into the thick of combat. If she was hurt she'd repay it with twice the power. As more birds fell she only became more out of control. When there was only one left she swung her maul with so much force that its head flew off of its body into the air spraying feathers and blood everywhere. She looked at each of us the way I've seen a rabid wolf look at the rest of its pack. When the head landed she ran off into the forest screaming. We haven't seen her since then. If I had know she wouldn't find her own way back to us I might have followed, but I can't be sure.
We spent a time plucking feathers to bring back to the Gimme Brothers. Eric had spotted a mound of dirt while we were fighting underneath the tree. Something was buried there and he asked me to help him dig it up. Under about 2 feet of soil there was a wooden case and a fresh corpse. She had red hair and wore the insignia of Salvation. Inside the case was a small crossbow and ammunition packed with care. A small bird landed ontop of the pile of loose dirt and examined the body. It began speaking, repeating words it had heard. It spoke in the same voices as the Gimme Brothers. They were arguing. They had killed this woman and were trying to hide her. There must be more to this, and I intend to find out when we return. It flew away past the toucan who'd gotten us into that mess of a fight. It was a simple thing to kill it now during the relative calm. Oscar wasn't impressed in the slightest, not bothered that he had lost.
The rest of the hike was uneventful aside from worrying about Urghat. Oscar was keen to cook one of the parrots he'd dragged along with us. I was glad to see what I'd be eating before it was put before me. It was pretty bland though. The bird was lean and Oscar neglected to put so much as salt on it. The drink he'd made from the bog water had more flavor even if it was bitter. We're going to scout out the bandits tomorrow. Oscar seems really motivated to do it, more than any of us. He must want them away from where he lives. He's frightening to even look at. It wouldn't surprise me if he's been mistaken for a bandit before and it left a sore spot. I can only wait till we go now, so a little meditation is in order.
Credit for the jungle pic is hard to find, a google search shows several different places it was posted. Credit for Oscar goes to Jack Kaiser. Oscar was more or less lifted from another campaign by Team4Star. While it's not very original we all had fun with him and none of us knew until afterwards. http://tfsatthetable.wikia.com/wiki/Onslow_Green