Zaryusu despondently looked over the swampy waters. Most of his elder kinsmen had yet to break the news to him in person, but he wasn't so disillusioned by the situation. A scout had gone out to find out what had happened to the hunting party his father had led. There weren't many words passed between the scout and the elders, but his haunted visage spoke volumes. His father was likely gone. His brother, Shasuryusu, was about as hopeful as himself. As if to make up for the loss, he had taken to burying himself in all kinds of work for the sake of the tribe. When Zaryusu woke up for morning training, he was gone. When he came back to sleep for the night, he had yet to return. What little moments he could catch of his brother were at the occasional communal dinner, and those were scarcely longer than a few breaths.

What could he do at this point? He wasn't skilled with the bow like his father, nor had he the wit and charisma his brother inherited either when it came to convincing other tribesmen into doing things. Sure, he could still fight all the same when it came to a close-up fight, but he was well aware that such a fighting style was high-risk and ill-suited for hunts like that which his father took. Without the last of their hunters, their tribe was essentially doomed.

It was plain as day, he'd heard whispers from the others. 'The fish were growing more scarce', 'The Yellow Speckles were infringing on our fishing grounds', 'We don't have the manpower'. Zaryusu couldn't help but feel like crying, maybe for just a moment. It was unlikely he would be bothered this far from the village, and even if they did he hardly cared if they saw him weep. His eyes slowly leaked tears as he let out a throaty and soft cry, the noise of mourning.

"Oh, my son, to see you weeping so…" He heard from the bushes, making him whip his head towards the voice.

"N-no… it can't be…" He muttered in disbelief.

Though there was a moment of doubt, that maybe his mind was fooling him, it was in fact him rising from the brush. And with a strange new bow slung around his body. The teenage lizard sprung up and almost tackled his father, eliciting a chuckle from the old man.

"Hehehe, yes, I've yet to die my boy. I presume that our scouts had found the bodies of the others?"

"Where were you?" Zaryusu couldn't help but weep into his fathers' chest.

Zarusosa sighed, wrapping his son into a tight hug. "Oh, Zary, I've been on quite the adventure this past month. I would have returned sooner, but between getting revenge for our fallen kinsmen and spreading the word to our allies about newfound hopes, I hadn't the chance to be home until now. For that I am sorry, I should have made returning my highest priority first"

The young lizard boy sniffled, letting go and wiping his eyes. He wanted to comment on the shortened version of his name, but had bigger concerns. "Spreading the word? About what?"

The old lizard smiled at that. "New found hope. But first, we must head back to the village. Your brother must be worried sick. He always was a workaholic like your mother. Ah, but first…"

He waved a hand over to the bushes behind him in a signaling manner. Two more rose up, one scrawny yellow-spotted lizard with a sack of stones over shoulder and a tongue sticking out, barely older than he was by the looks of it, the other covered head to toe in dragon-bone armor. Zaryusu's eyes widened, recognizing the latter from his few visits to the Razor Tails with his father.

"You already know Kyuku Zuzu, but the other standing before you is Sukyu Juju. He has recently claimed the title of Chief among the Small Fangs"

Zaryusu was almost at a loss for words, but he seemed to find them in an attempt to sate his curiosity. "Father… what is happening… why are the chiefs of our allies here?"

"The tides of change are here, my son," The old man spoke with rare seriousness. "And now it is a matter of swimming with the currents, or being dragged down by undertow to drown"

Shasuryusu was ensorcelled with his current work. He was marching back and forth, helping out where he could. Food was growing scarcer by the minute, and now he had to muster what able-bodied lizards he could. Their numbers were large, certainly, but there were few capable of hunting enough for them even before his father's hunting party had been… dismantled.

With the mantle of Chief now empty, many of his father's former rivals were now pining for an attempt at leadership. Something Shasuryusu wouldn't let happen over his dead body. So at the moment he was doing what he could so that when the rite of challenge came, he could take the position without much argument. Hopefully, it would all end with the tribe united.

As he was marching on his way to another one of the elder's huts for counsel, however, he heard a commotion coming from the main entrance. Despite the somber air the village had taken as of late, this had sounded much more… cheerful? He peered closely, attempting to catch a glimpse between the growing crowd, and gasped.

"Chief Zarusosa has returned!" A member of the tribe shouted out.

"Father…?" The lizard whispered out.

"Calm down everyone, calm down, I'll answer everyone's questions after I've convened with the elders! Please, stand back and let us through, I'll announce everything to the tribe once we're done!"

"Father!" Shasuryusu shouted out, letting his emotions guide him as he dived through the crowd.

Though it was hardfought, he reached the center and made it to the man who had raised both him and his brother. There was a grapple, a strong hug formed between the two as Zaru breathed deep with his child in his chest.

"Shasu, my child, rest easy. I am sorry I could not be here sooner"

To damnation with being chieftain, those ambitions could rot in a corner if his father was back now. The shortening of his name was interesting, but he didn't care at this moment.

"We thought you were…" Shasuryusu attempted, though the words trailed off as they soured his tongue.

"Obviously not, I would never have come otherwise. And it's all thanks to two strange gifts from the ancestors," The old lizard spoke. "Ah, but we have bigger concerns at the moment. Come, we must gather the elders up for a meeting. Could you help me fetch them?"

"Right away father!"

"There shan't be a need for such a thing," An aged, dusty voice spoke up. "We could have heard the cheers all the way from the home coast with how loud you were"

Some of the elders had already begun making their way to the commotion. Though they had yet to fully reach earshot, they had already acknowledged Zarusosa's presence with glistening eyes.

"It seems as though you've received the blessings of the ancestors yet again, old champion!" Another elder called out. "I knew it couldn't have been true, nothing could have put you down but death itself!"

"My my…" An older female among the elders vocalized. "Nevermind having escaped death, what is that strange new weapon on your shoulder?"

"This?" Zarusosa asked, pulling the Emerald Moon off of his shoulder to show it off. "This was a gift from the human that saved my life!"

There was hushed murmuring at that, questions varying about the subject of humans.

"A human saved you?" One of the elders asked with a barely restrained scoff. "What manner of foolishness is this?"

"It is no jest, elders. Were it not for the human known as Nolan… I would not be here to be able to embrace my sons once more".

Some of the tribe seemed curious, while others were wary. The two brothers, meanwhile, were secretly giving their thanks to this 'Nolan', and very much wished to meet him.

"And just who is this 'Nolan'?" The more jolly of the elders asked. "I do not doubt your words, Zarusosa, but it is not often we have been shown charity by their kind"

"And yet it seems that those who do shower us with it a thousand times fold!" The old chief exclaimed. He held the bow up for all in the crowd to witness. "For not only did he save my life, but he gave us our very own great treasure to wield! Behold, the Emerald Moon!"

The words of the crowd rose to a more excited, albeit baffled chatter. A weapon that equaled the great treasures of the tribes?

"Not only is this weapon capable of repairing itself, but it can also guide its arrows for a truer shot, and even cast magic on behalf of its wielder much like Frost Pain of the Razor Edge tribe! Observe! {Ensnaring Strike}!"

An arrow flew from the bow, leaves beginning to sprout from it as it flew, redirecting it towards his target. It struck a duck from the air, and encased it in a cocoon of thorny vines as it fell from the air. Everyone watched the display with awe, amazed at the sight of the weapon's power. It seemed to have delivered shock and awe to the elders, as Zarusosa was secretly hoping.

"And the human… gave this to you?" The first elder in the group asked.

"Yes, he had… parted ways with it for myself" The chief spoke carefully. "But that was not the only gift he had willingly shared. Gather round everyone! The knowledge I have to share, though it came from a human, will impact the very future of not just our tribes, but all of the Forest of Tob!"

For the first time in months, Shasuryusu felt a weight lift from his shoulders. Maybe there were miracles after all.

The lich looked upon the test subject in dismay. It was an exercise in a group mind theoretical he had been working on, one that should have performed swimmingly.

Yet the pulsating and more lifeless than usual wormsack before him spoke otherwise.

The old necromancer floated up to his creation, coldly lifting one of the heads with a {Mage Hand} to more closely observe it as his skeletal assistant stood by with a notebook and bottomless quill.

"Scribe, take note," He hoarsely began. "The creature seems to have suffered several lacerations. It seems that the surviving lizardmen members had been able to sufficiently fight back once they had recuperated and prepared. I mark at least two… no, three opponents, gauging on the different weapon marks and… magic…?"

The signature was faint, but it was there. Druidic in nature, neither a friend nor foe to his own arts. Despite being the embodiment of nature, many druid enclaves were actually on neutral terms with his Order. They saw undeath as an extant form of the circle of life, and their reclusive existence made for decent enough groups to trade certain materials and goods with, what little that were needed to maintain the life of a lich and his corpse servants at the very least. Though that isn't to say they fully agreed with the arts either, but they at least took it in stride.

But this one had a different… scent to it than the other druid circles he was familiar with. This magic did not reek of elm and mulberries, but of snow and evergreen trees, of a fading memory of the northern reaches. It reminded the necromancer of a place he had not been for over two-hundred years. The place of his birth.

He shook his head at that. Old memories could wait, he needed to figure out who this unexpected variable was. It was possible they were demihuman, mostly likely passing through and offering aid to the lizardmen, but…

"Toadman footprints?" He muttered. Toadman, Lizardman, and some third unknown factor? All working together?

"Just what is going on here…" he grumbled, before standing up straight and clearing his throat. "Scribe, add an addendum to that note…"

"So, Sozuu… tell me in detail where it went wrong…" The leading chief of the Red Eyes asked.

The lizardman was slow in his reply, considering his words carefully. It was dark in the chieftain's hut, but that hardly mattered to those within. Not only was the chieftain standing before Sozuu, but so too were the elders and various few others of the tribe. Those that mattered, at least. Those that refused to let the humans take what little they had left.

"I grow impatient, Sozuu," The chieftain growled.

"I… had acted prematurely," He answered carefully. "I had not taken into consideration the human's surprising amount of spirit, and as such had cost ourselves the element of surprise"

"... Is that all?" The chieftain asked, and though he was scared he could not think of anything else.

"Yes sir," He responded weakly.

"... You hatchling…" The chieftain muttered. "Let me list off all the mistakes you have made. Though you have given me one, you have failed to notice the other two. Not only does the human have a bond with the Chieftan of the Greenclaws I did not think to be possible, he also carries with him a sense of purpose. And now, he is doing everything he can to undermine our efforts to spit in the eyes of the humans, fattening the tribe up on his so called 'kindness' to make us more susceptible to attacks from outside"

He leaned in to glare his vicious, scarlet eyes deep into Sozuu's, forcing the lizardman to gulp like a fresh hatchling gasping for air from the eggs.

"Do you realize how heavily he's dug into the hearts of our people now that you've made him act?"

"... I'm sorry sir…" The lizardman could barely mumble. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm-"

"Oh be quiet. Be thankful you have use yet, Sozuu. Get out of here, we have much to deliberate on"

"Thank you chieftain, I will make up for this sleight, I swear upon my ancestors!" The lizard exclaimed hurriedly, bowing deeply before rushing out of the hut.

The chieftain was left alone with his followers, sighing deeply as he buried a face into palm.

"Why now, of all times, when we are at our weakest…" he muttered. "Wasn't it enough when they took our home, our children, our wives?"

"The humans know no end to their glutton, Kukri. This one is no exception, he merely paints it a different color," One of the elders, an albino mentioned. "I've heard from some of my students that he claims to be honest about his goals, and to a degree he is just honest enough about his nature that it catches those who would be initially weary off-guard. It is unsettling, how many of our rank he has already convinced through his half-truths and sweetly coated 'honesty'. One must wonder if he is an expert sent to finish us off, possibly by the theocracy"

"Doubtful," Another elder murmured. "You heard what Marscha said, and even Sozuu's antics helped confirm it for us. I for one don't believe the Slane Theocracy would send a single caster of the third tier to handle us, not unless it was a suicide mission"

The first elder snorted at that. "You're right, I suppose. Humans are too selfish for that. Osai, you've been silent, what are your thoughts on the matter?"

The elder didn't speak at first. He was drinking in the situation carefully, and if there was one thing they could all say, it was that they respected his thoughts on matters.

"We cannot rule out a third party," He began. "Not only has he come from seemingly nowhere, but he is also well-versed in the surroundings in terms of what can be eaten. He also carries with him a surprising degree of patience uncommon for his ilk, and yet a drive to accomplish things as quickly and efficiently as possible. He carries himself like a true denizen of the wild, an echelon beyond the average human. Clearly, though he is a third tier casting human, he is also well capable of taking on tasks which would be considered on par for some of our warriors. We must not let our guard down, not even for a moment around him"

To hear such words of caution from Osai unnerved the rest. It wasn't every day that Osai admitted that something required constant vigilance. As the others deliberated, Osai was left to continue his own personal musings on the human. Particularly, just who did the human work for, and to what purpose?

The goblin's legs were sore, but he did not complain. Not when he had to fight off a horde of Shearjaws attracted by the scent of bloating corpses, nor when he had to follow a barely visible trail through marsh that had on more than one occasion slipped through waters. There was no need to speak, for nothing could be said.

Whatever the human had done to him, his injury seemed to have… unlocked something. He wasn't sure what, he was seldom sure of anything at the moment. All he could say for certain was that this human needed to answer his questions.

He had gone over a thousand scenarios, a thousand conversations in his head. Would the human answer? Would he refuse? Or would he strike back at the first sight of himself? He did not know, but that not knowing was exactly what drove him. He needed comfort, anything to put his burning curiosity to rest.

Though he had much to ask, he could not think it now. Not when he found the location of where the human had gone. He was sure of it, his scent was fresh on the breeze now, he was just beyond those walls. What fascinated the goblin was that it was not the walls of a human camp, but of lizardmen. Was he taken prisoner? Or was there something more to the human.

The goblin stepped up to the gate, slow and methodical. The sight of himself clearly seemed to pique the interest of the guards standing at attention by the entrance to their village, one nudging the other.

"Hey… is that a goblin?" One whispered to the other. "All alone?"

"I don't like this…" He heard the other mutter. "Halt! What business do you have with the Red Eye tribe, stranger?"

The goblin did not need to give his answer. He reached behind himself and pulled out a scrap of cloth. Though the Shearjaws had torn much of his impromptu cloak, that had remained. He pulled it out for the lizards to see, and recognition seemed to dawn on them.

"Hey… that kinda looks like the same material the human used to make for one of the albino's cloaks"

The goblin looked up at them with a twinkle in his eye and nodded. The two lizards looked at each other, seemingly having a mental conversation, before one ended up sighing.

"I'll take you to him. Do you have a name, stranger?"

For the first time in weeks, the goblin found a reason to speak. His lips cracked open for something other than to eat, drink, and breath, and gave the one word necessary to satisfy the lizardman, and lead him to his answers.

"Yulg"

Nolan Potts, Human (Karma: 50 [Neutral]) [17/21 Spell slots used]

Classes: Brawler (5), Ranger (3), Druid (4), Clothier (3). Total Level (15).

Spells (Druid): Frostbite, Entangle, Create or Destroy Water, Guidance, Jump, Cure Wounds, Dust Devil, Protect from Poison, Hold Person, Spike Growth, Lesser Restoration, Water Breathing, Darkvision, Sleetstorm

Spells (Ranger): Animal Friendship, Speak to Animals, Ensnaring Strike

Gear: Canvas Clothes (Sturdy, Weathered), Oak-Handled Brush-hook, Canvas Coyote Pack of Holding, Bundles of Herbs (Medicinal), Bundles of Smoked Bug Meat, Bone toolkit

Items of Note: {Humble Beginnings}

Party Members are as follows…

Member One: Todone, Son of Kodrotti, Toadman (Karma: -25 [Neutral])

Classes: Toadman Warrior (9), Brawler (8), Total Level (17).

Member Two: Crusch Lulu of the Red Eyes (Karma: 50 [Neutral])

Classes: Awakened Elder Blood Lizardman (1), Druid (6), Spirit Shaman (3), Summoner (1), Total Level (11)

AN: So as it turns out, my schedule isn't going to be as unpredictable as I'd first presumed. Now that I got my hands on a copy and asked a couple questions, I should have a rough sketch of how things should flow. Which means I'll still be able to post pretty often. Fancy that, huh? Here I was being worried it'd go downhill like it usually does. Anyways, hope y'all enjoy