A Man Ain’t Born A Cowboy, He Becomes One

After helpin’ out with the worm problem, some of the goblins let us hitch a ride with them part of their caravan across the Fissure Fields. We got some big ol’ spiders to ride on. I’ll tell ya, that was a strange experience. Charlette and Big Clyde rode on a huge, giant beetle carrying up the rear. But our spiders, they was somethin’. Mine was a lady named Precious, who was a young thang. She had more energy and was more stubborn than Charlette is in her old age, but she was a joy to ride with. You get used to the horrifyin’ nature of them spiders if you’re too busy lookin’ around you. Just don’t look down and there ain’t nothin’ to be afraid of! Sledge got a big spider, bigger than any we’d seen so far. Which made sense, considering Sledge’s size as well. I think his was called Goliath. Vebradu had a small baby one called Klink. Vidar also had a big spider, though not as big as Goliath. His was called Kyle. Yeah, weird name, right? And Larry’s was named Tipsy - a spider after my own heart.

The trek was a long and hard one. I mean, we’d been on worse nowadays, but that was our first time really delving into the thick of it all. Thank Shemes the sandstorms stayed well away from us. Huntin’ and foragin’ out there was rough. It was some slim pickings, but I’d stashed enough away to keep us all fed even when Big Clyde and I wasn’t lucky with our hunt.

One of the first couple days we was out there, Vidar had a uh.. vision. I guess. He sorta started just wanderin’ off without his spider. Vebradu followed him. We was stopped to get water, so we didn’t leave ‘em behind or nothin’, but uh. Vidar talked about seein’ ghosts or some such. He talked about his ancestors again. But he had a broken axe with him, just the hilt of it. He said it belonged to his great great great great great great, probably some more greats, grandmother. Vebradu seemed concerned. Jotuns, you see, they’re used to the cold and the mountains. Vidar’s about as white as snow, so he looked mighty out of place in the desert. It didn’t take too long before the sun turned him a sickly pink. He was pretty out of it.

Sketch of Vebradu standing outside a cave looking worried. Text bubbles coming from inside the cave show the conversation between Vidar and his grandmother, where Vidar cuts her off confused and bewildered.

Our trip was kinda borin’ after that. Don’t get me wrong, there was some close calls with the wildlife and such, and Vidar wasn’t gettin’ any better. We had a scuffle with a giant scorpion, but Kyle ate it before it could do too much. Poor scorpion picked Sledge of all people to sting first. Didn’t do nothin’! We found a lotta weird things out there in the desert. From old caravans and corpses long abandoned. From ruins and such. We found me a bow and a quiver, which felt much more comfortable to me than the alternative. The rifle, I mean. We found a couple other odds and ends, Larry got this real fancy lantern, and Big Clyde found a knife to chew on. Vebradu took it from him. Very selfish indeed.

Note From Dal:

Hi! Usually I like staying in character for these, but because Vebradu didn’t share this with the party, and probably never will, I’m including this separately. Since it occurred above table so all the players could see, I think that necessitates it showing up here for future reference so that all of Kalyn’s foreshadowing pays off. Even if Javier wouldn’t know about it. This happened about halfway through their march through the Fissure Fields:

Vebradu has a flashback of his wizard teacher while he looks at the stars and realizes he doesn’t remember them. Knowing that Morgos had taken some of his memories, intending to give them back to him, but now he won’t ever get them back. He remembers how she taught him pneumonic methods of memorization for his studies. He realizes he has been here before, he just can’t remember - an uncomfortable feeling indeed for a kenku. Through the haze of dreams, he’s able to recall the memory, or at least pieces. He knows he’s been to the Fissure Fields before, just not here, not at this time of year. The stars look familiar but off. And then he wakes up.