Monster Party Book Seven: There's some things you're never gonna help or change, but hunger is something we can turn around!
Chapter Two: You take it on faith, you take it to the heart, the waaaiiiting is the hardest part.
"I'm great at hunting aren't I?" Asked Alexander Diamondclaw, in an understandably pleased tone of voice.
Gavin and the other wolves were too busy chewing at the moment to answer.
Over the course of their journey to Zhukar the adventurers had come across a small group of goats with no collars. The herbivores had sought to flee form the wolfpack onto a rocky outcropping where even the hungry beasts would not dare pursue them.
"By which you mean, you're great at getting lucky and telling others to do all the work, right Boss?" Cal Wright inquired a bit crossly.
The goats' strategy was perfectly sound for dealing with four legged predators but under Alexander's directions Cal had dispatched one goat after another with the aid of his trusty rifle Phoenix. The impact of his bullets frequently knocked the goats from their place of safety onto the rocks below, both bringing their corpses closer to hand and helping to tenderize the meat.
Not that they had much in the way of meat of course. Just like everything (and everyone) else the six had encountered in G'Henna, the goats had looked like they were on the point of starvation.
Still, Gavin and his pack were in no shape to turn up their noses at any possible meal, and had immediately begun feasting with gusto upon the fallen goats.
"It is called delegation Beta. It means that I know when it is best to let to let other members of my pack rise to the occasion." Alexander insisted, the smile never leaving his lips.
After having manged to keep Cal relatively happy (or as happy as the alchemist ever was), Alexander had turned his attention to other matters. Thanks to a certain amount of cajolery he eventually convinced Gavin to let James Firecat feast on the fallen goats as well.
The young man had promptly joined in no less eagerly. Unlike the wolves however, after chewing the meat from a goat's leg he tossed away the bone, completely satisfied. By comparison, even after chewing the marrow from any bones they could find (gobbling up the meat first of course) Gavin and the wolves still had a faint air of hunger about them. It was hard to be too surprised by that though, while James might be wiry and lean, he still looked quite well fed next to the wolves.
Once the meal was over, adventurers and the wolves alike settled down for the evening.
As the sun dipped below the horizon the already desolate landscape of G'Henna became even more inhospitable, the temperature plummeting at a rate not too unlike the goats in their final moments.
Still, there were actions that could be taken to find some measure of protection from the chill night air.
"I am not going to wake up dead, I am not going to wake up dead..." Cal Wright couldn't help but repeat to himself over and over again.
The alchemist was currently laying with his head against one wolf's chest like an awkward furry, rather bony pillow.
The wolf barked something back that most likely to amounted to how it was none too enthusiastic about the arrangement either.
Not that either man or wolf had much of a choice in the matter. Devi had produced a large piece of cloth from her bag of holding, and spread it across the ground (more to keep said ground from sucking all the warmth from their bodies than out of any traditional standards of "comfort") and now they all lay in one huge intertwined bundles of arms, legs, hands, feet, paws, and tails.
"I've had worse." Insisted Devi as a pair of skinny wolves lay sprawled on either side of her.
"If they had any intention of hurting us they would have shown it a long time ago. Wolves aren't exactly known for their duplicity." Florence Bastien pointed out calmly.
"Yeah, 'wolves aren't known for their duplicity', tell that one in Kartakass and they'll laugh you out of the inn, at which point the wolves waiting outside will rip you to shreds." The dirty blond haired man continued to grouse.
"Humans who cloak themselves in the skin of wolves, and wolves who cloak themselves in the skin of humans are duplicitous, everyday wolves just get caught in the crossfire." Alexander insisted.
Gavin meanwhile had chosen to climb completely on top of Alexander, so as to put as distance as possible between himself and the cold ground.
"Wolves may not be duplicitous but that doesn't mean they're sanitary. If I wake up with flees, I'm blaming you Boss." The alchemist added.
Gavin barked something that sounded darkly humorous, at least to Alexander's ears.
"You don't need to worry about that Cal, Gavin and his packmates got hungry enough to eat each others' flees a long time ago." The silver haired man insisted.
"G'Henna, come for our beautiful scenery, stay because you won't have a choice after you've starved to death!" Cal declared forlornly.
"The liquor Cal, don't forget the liquor! That's the real reason to stay in G'Henna." Alexander insisted, still managing to sound delighted despite their deary surroundings.
Then before the argument could go any further he tilted himself to the side slightly (careful not to dislodge Gavin) and fell asleep.
XXX XXX XXX
The morning came eventually, and though G'Henna was warmer in the sunlight, it made no more appealing a sight.
In fact, the further the group pressed on the warmer it became. Soon enough the adventurers found it necessary to remove canteens from Devi's bag of holding and started passing them around.
Seeing how heavily Gavin and his pack mates were panting beneath the sun's punishing rays Alexander took the time to empty several canteens down various lupine throats to help the beasts cope.
"You know it is really great that you finally managed to figure out how to magically summon water and not just purify it Florence!" James Firecat declared exuberantly after taking a few moments to quench his own thirst.
"Markovia was a learning experience." The green clad woman admitted, helping herself to a canteen of her own.
"Air, water, food, shelter, warmth. Anything that helps us worry less about them is an important improvement." Devi insisted with a faint smile from her lips after swallowing her own mouthful of water.
"All I learned from Markovia is that dolphins are weird and there's a good reason I don't get along with most people." Mirri Catwarrior sighed.
She alone among the group had never requested a canteen from Devi. Not only that, but both she and Florence (unlike the other four) had yet to perspire from the rising temperature.
Even with occasional stops to drink, the group still made good progress and before noon they had to part ways with their lupine guides. While Gavin was obviously less than enthusiastic about that prospect, Alexander he knew better than to try and accompany the adventurers into a human city. Even one that seemed to be as run down and decrepit as Zhukar proved to be.
Rising above the barren land were massive walls, whose eroded and worn frames helped form the weathered wooden beams of the city's gate. Guards stood posted at the gate with cloth overhangings above them so that they were granted some shade in which to stand.
The guards wore red arm bands, red hoods, and had red ribbons tied to the hafts of their pikes. As the group drew within a dozen or so paces of the walls, a pair of guards stepped forward, hands raised in a silent command to halt.
"Welcome in the name of the great Yagno Petrovna, high priest and First Servant of great Zhakata. State your name and purpose in Zhukar!" Insisted the brown eyed soldier with black hair poking out from beneath his helmet.
He spoke the words in a slow emotionless manner which suggested they were a part of an officially prepared speech rather than some spur of the moment declaration. They came out a touch haltingly though, suggesting that the words in question were not routinely spoken.
"Alexander Diamondclaw, Florence Bastien, Cal Wright, Devi Skye, Mirri Catwarrior and James Firecat. We're travelers brought here by the Mists. At the moment all we're truly interested in is finding some lodgings for the night and general supplies." Alexander answered.
Seeing that the silver haired man had no overtly hostile intentions the soldier relaxed his grip slightly.
"If your come with peace in your heart and piety before Zhakata in your soul then you are free to enter Zhukar." He declared proudly.
"What exactly defines 'piety before Zhakata' just to be clear?" Cal pipped up, though unlike most of his interjections this one didn't earned him a physical rebuke. The soldier coughed lightly and raised the visor of his helmet to take a swig from his own canteen before answering.
"Arcane magic is forbidden, it is an affront to Zhakata for man to trifle in things he was not meant to know and powers he was never meant to wield. Divine magic or proselytizing from any who do not worship Zhakata is also forbidden.
If you contribute your food in the morning to Zhakata's Taking you may in turn receive food every other day at sunset during the ritual of Zhakata's Dole, but it is illegal to buy or sell food. I'm saddened to say that you have arrived during one of the days when the Dole will not take place." The guard explained, in a straight to the point but not unfriendly manner.
The six adventurers just stood there in consternation for a few moments.
"So, just to be clear, it isn't illegal for us not to believe in Zhakata, so long as we don' say anything about it or cast any magic?" Devi finally ventured cautiously.
"Correct, we are by no means uncivilized." The soldier insisted, sounding a touch ashamed (either of himself or his city it was hard to tell) over this point.
"Any other laws I should be aware of? I have no desire to flout the hand of friendship this city has offered me, but customs tend to vary widely when one is transported by the Mists. One land's crime may be another's cherished sacrament.
To pick an example at random, it was once my less than great pleasure to find myself in a town where it was illegal to end a conversation without laughing. Ha." The final word came out in a complete and utterly emotionless deadpan.
"Those who believe in Zhakata must fast for three days a week, visitors need only do it for two." The guard declared with an air of strained joviality, as if he realized this was not going to be pleasant news.
Unable to hold back his curiosity any longer, Alexander finally asked a question on the matter which had occupied his mind since the conversation started.
"You said that it was illegal to buy or purchase food. Does that include water, and possibly even more importantly, does it include beverages of a more distilled nature?" He pressed.
"Water is always acceptable and never prohibited. As for your other question, it is not forbidden, but it is dreadfully scarce. Much of what our fellow city of Dervich produces the High Priest requires for sacramental uses." The soldier replied.
"I see." Alexander declared in an empty emotionless voice.
There was only the faintest quiver of his right eyebrow.
"Well, if that truly does cover everything, I and my companions will be now enter Zhukar." He decided.
"There is an addendum to 'peace in your hearts' that we must attend to first. Declare whatever weapons you have and allow them to peace bonded." The soldier insisted, producing a ball of thick orange string.
"This is Wolf Claw." Alexander offered unstrapping the sword he wore across his back and holding it out to the solider.
It took no time at all for the soldier to tie some orange bands that would make it impossible for the blade to leave its scabbard.
"This is Phoenix, and I have a few more pistols on my belt." Cal offered, holding out his rifle.
The soldier stared at it for a moment, peace bonding a sword was clearly a familiar procedure to him, but it was equally clear that he had next to no knowledge of firearms.
"I'll unload it… like a crossbow?" Cal offered, not wanting to spend all day waiting for the guard to figure out how to best to handle his weapons.
"That would be most satisfactory." The soldier agreed instantly.
Cal emptied the gun's chamber, and after seeing the process the guard decided to tie an orange knot around the a section of Phoenix's breech which should make it impossible to reload. He twisted similar knots around the chamber of every single one of Cal's pistols in turn once they were unloaded.
"Just this." Devi answered holding out her arm with the flail still wrapped around it.
The soldier not wanting to force Devi to spend the entire trip with the flail bound to her arm refrained from tying any knots to it. Likewise he saw nothing impermissible about Florence's staff.
"Search me." Mirri Catwarrior offered, holding up her gloved hands passively, quite confident that there were no weapons about her body… other than her body itself.
"This could take a while..." The final member of the group admitted as he approached the guard with a touch of embarrassment upon his face.
James Firecat parted his red jacket.
Sown into its folds were at least a dozen brightly shining knives, and one or two that didn't shine due to being crafted from wood, human bone, or other exotic materials.
Indeed peace binding them did take a while.
Once the process was finally complete, the guard stood back with a smile on his face.
"You are free to enter Zhukar and seek shelter from the desert's heat..." He proudly declared before wrapping out a complex series of knocks on a nearby wall.
The gates of Zhukar swung open to allow them entry, and as they walked forward Alexander's keen ears picked up a single stray comment being whispered between the guards.
"Rega will want to hear of this…." One told the other.
The silver haired man did not react in the slightest, instead simply focusing on getting inside the city.
At the very least his line about "shelter from the desert's heat" proved to be more than just proverbial. Either because of the cobblestone streets, the large stone walls, or some minor magic inherent to the city itself, once the gates closed behind them, the temperature abruptly dropped somewhere between ten and twenty degrees.
A more welcome change was hard to imagine all things considered. Not that Zhukar seemed to be very welcoming in any other way.
The city seemed every bit as run down (if not more) on the inside as it had from the outside. There were cobblestones missing from the street, and not a single building looked as if it had been constructed within the last decade.
The only aspect of the city that had any shine at all was the surprisingly large amounts of ivory which was evidently in such surplus that it could be used as both building material and general decoration.
The soldiers at the gate like most men of their profession had looked healthy, if a little strained by the heat. The citizens of Zhukar were another mater entirely, just like Marda, Callian, and the animals the group had encountered, they all looked dreadfully thin.
While the adventures were by no means overweight (fat doesn't tend to last long when your profession makes fighting or fleeing for your life a painfully mundane occurrence) they all looked like walruses among seals next to the half starved populace of Zhukar.
A number of suspicious blue eyes (it was not the only eye color present among the people of Zhukar, but it was surely the dominant one) fell upon the new arrivals.
It didn't help that they were dressed in bright colors while the people of Zhukar preferred various drab browns, grays, or whatever other color their clothing might have turned over time. James' bright red outfit seemed to draw the most attention though no one was willing to speak directly to the new comers.
There was plenty of furtive mumbling of course, but by this point in his life Alexander considered that no less inevitable than the sunrise.
For the first hour or so the group had simply walked this way and that, trying to get a feel for the city rather than worrying about getting anywhere in particular. It was not especially hard to get a feel for Zhukar, it was the feeling of hunger gnawing at an empty stomach multiplied several thousand times over.
Eventually the group headed for the "Old City" section of Zhukar where supposedly rooms could be found at reasonable prices. The buildings in this part of the city looked no finer than most of the others (though they did not look too much worse either) and did little to entice perspective clients.
There were no bright wooden carving or large signs declaring a particular establishment's name. The only proof that the buildings in question were not private residences was that many of them had dilapidated signs reading "vacancy" out in front of them.
After seeing enough such unimpressive signs to be certain that there was likely to be little difference in the accommodations offered, Alexander entered one of them at random. A gaunt (just like nearly everyone else in Zhukar) man with black hair and blue eyes gazed out from behind a wooden desk.
He did not offer them any sort of welcoming greeting or invitation to stay the night, instead he only stared deeply at Alexander and his companions. Since the burden of starting a conversation seemed to rest upon him, Alexander decided to first take a few moments to inspect the building in greater detail.
He could probably spend the night here without worrying about dying because the building had collapsed in on itself, so there was that.
"Is this an inn?" He eventually asked.
"We're a guesting house." The man half corrected, half agreed with outsider.
"What are your rates?" The silver haired man inquired calmly.
"Twelve silver pieces per person per night for outsiders." The innkeeper answered gruffly.
Zhukar was not the first city that the group had visited where those from far off lands would be expected to pay higher prices, and it would doubtlessly not be the last. If the black haired man had expected the price to divert Alexander's interest he would had needed to name something a bit higher.
"Are there any particular rules we should be aware of if we wish to spend the night?" He added, taking another look around the building.
Most inns offered some form of communal dinning area, or a kitchen to produce meals that the guests could consume in private, here there was no sign or scent of either.
"Since you are outsiders I will put it plainly. I do not know how it is done in foreign lands, but in Zhukar a guesting house is a not a place for strangers to simply meander in and make themselves at home. It is a place where a host may allow his guests to remain the night, if he so chooses. I am still pondering if I wish to have you lot for guests." The man explained bluntly but not exactly rudely.
"Would the firmness of our coin help make up your mind?" Alexander offered, reaching into a pocket of his black outfit and producing a few shining golden coins that would have easily covered the groups stay for a week.
"Do not let the brightness of coins blind you to the truth of a man's soul, such are the teachings of Zhakata." Insisted the guesting house's owner.
He stepped out from behind the desk and began to walk towards Alexander. He was roughly half a foot shorter, and the silver haired man awkwardly half crouched to try and equalize their heights.
"I can tell by sight alone that you are not favored by Zhakata, though at least you do not practice the grievous sin of gluttony." He declared as he slowly examined the half a dozen adventurers up close.
"Greed has always been more my..." Cal began softly before Devi completely silenced him with an elbow to the ribs.
"Who and what do you worship?" The man demanded suddenly.
Alexander's green eye went wide and his tongue went completely still.
The black haired man rose up to his full height, and his half skeletal figure seemed to swell with righteous fury.
"A man who refuses to humble himself in supplication before his betters is a fool. A man without love for a god in his heart, is a man inevitably without love or respect for his fellow men. If he follows the tenants of no faith, his mind is already that of an outlaw even if his actions have not yet become so. What god do you worship?" He demanded a second time.
Alexander's entire body seemed to be rocked by the question. He was painfully silent for a moment… then he bowed his head and spoke.
"I… I had an experience many years back. It was not something I would have actively chosen, but neither was it something I could deny, because it rocked me to my very core. Since that day, the fate of my soul has been in the paws of the Chained Wolf." Alexander finally answered solemnly.
"You have suffered for your faith?" The black haired man insisted on knowing.
"It would be better to say that I am still suffering. The Wolf is not an easy master… but I know the wisdom of supplicating myself before my betters." Alexander declared in a pained tone.
The black haired man extended a hand.
"Leon." He introduced himself.
"Alexander Diamondclaw." The silver haired man replied as he reached out his own black gloved right hand.
"Zhkata's teeth!" Leon exclaimed triumphantly as the pair shook.
"May no shackle ever hold firm against you." Alexander offered in equally reverent tones.
"Will three rooms suit you?" Leon offered as he returned to his desk in order to gather keys.
"Three rooms will be most satisfactory." Alexander agreed.
Keys were handed over from owner to guest, and coins were handed over from guest to owner.
XXX XXX XXX
"So, how many tails did we picked up?" Cal Wright asked as he removed his brown cloak and hung it from a hook.
"Three. Never all at once though, they took turns. One of them was wearing a bright red robe, another was a surprisingly mobile beggar, and the last a young boy with no sign of his parents around." Devi answered calmly.
"Only three? Boss must be loosing his touch." The alchemist pondered.
"We've only walked around, stared at people, and been stared at for a while. Give him some time and we'll have so many people following us they'll be getting in shoving matches." The elf insisted.
"So how many people do you think he'll have to kill before he's able to finally get his hands on that drink he wants?" Cal pondered.
XXX XXX XXX
"I wonder how many people I'll end up killing before I finally get that drink I want..." Alexander Diamondclaw pondered.
"I hope you're not being serious." Florence Bastien countered at once.
Alexander laid back on the room's single bed with his head cupped in his hands.
"As our potion brewing Beta would say, correlation does not imply causation. I'm going to kill people before I leave G'Henna, and I'm going to get that drink I want before I leave G'Henna. I'm not planning on doing the first in pursuit of the second, but they're both going to happen." Alexander insisted.
Florence promptly scooped up the pillow and hurled it at Alexander.
"You're a beast." She muttered, though her lips twitched upwards even as she spoke.
"None beastlier." Alexander agreed with a smile.
XXX XXX XXX
"Come out, come out, little squeaky..." James Firecat was down on his hands and knees before a mouse hole that he'd discovered half hidden beneath their room's bed.
"Do you really expect that to work?" Mirri Catwarrior inquired, as she was currently laying upon the bed in question.
"First time for everything..." James insisted, as a single brown eye watched closely for any sign of movement within the hole.
"Let me know when you get bored of watching and waiting." Mirri insisted, languidly running a gloved hand through her hair.
"Can you believe that Alex was worried about this place not providing meals?" James declared with a wide smile as he something small scuttle around inside the hole.
End Chapter.
AN: Sorry for massive delay between this chapter and the first one, blame it on the fact that I fairly recently picked up Twilight Struggle on the Ipad, and have been having a lot of fun with it. I'm still getting a fair amount of writing done (I have finished chapter three) but proof reading as ever takes longer than it should.
Also if you couldn't figured it out, the Chained Wolf is a complete different entity from the Wolf God of which Alfred Timothy is so fond of/invented/preaches of….
