[b]“Mm,”[/b] Lugh nodded, as everyone slinked, crawled, jumped, or just walked their way up. [b]“Glad to see so many of you. Follow me.”[/b] With the grace of someone who must’ve had a decent amount of DEX invested into his build, the swordsman dropped down from the tree and motioned the others to follow as well before…literally clipping through a portion of the roof’s floor and disappearing.

Upon some inspection, however, Raime would be able to pick out a few talismans plastered beside the area Lugh fell down into, dirt and grime rubbed upon them to camoflague them. It must have been an illusion then, one that was quickly confirmed if any of the party of five stuck their feet into the conjuration of a floor and felt empty space instead. Perhaps more of those talismans existed and Amulak and Raime had simply missed them on their initial scouting run?

Whether with trepidation, excitement, or simply a desire to let it all end and move onto less terrifying areas, the party went in as well, dropping a couple meters into the gloom of the dilapidated estate. Wooden boards creaked beneath their feet (except for Klein, who’s right foot practically broke through it), and Lugh motioned them to follow once more. They must have been on the upper floors of the estate still. There were stairs, half-rotten but perfectly jumpable, that lead down in a downwards spiralling fashion, and all sorts of vermin scattered at the party’s presence. No monsters burst out from adjacent walls though, and nothing grotesque grabbed at their ankles. Bulbous growths upon the estate-piercing tree’s bark offered a dim, flaccid light, enough for the focused to avoid any more holes in the floor. The party travelled down the hallway, made a left turn, and soon found themselves on the northeastern corner of the house. Behind the door that Lugh stood beside, firelight and the clattering of metal could be sensed.

[b]“Well, here we are,”[/b] the man said, tone as neutrally light as ever. [b]“Try to keep an open mind about it, ok?”[/b]

And with that, he slid the door open revealing a 30 square meter space occupied by…goddamn snake-people. On the northwestern corner, a four-meter long snake woman with a distended belly reclined upon an array of large boxes covered by pattern fabrics. A larger, six-meter long snake man, pale and pasty but with a robust snake half, was coiled in front of the central hearth of the room, stoking a fire and occasionally stirring the wok that laid atop it. A strange stew bubbled, neither enticing nor revolting; were those bones human ones, or goat-head-human-body ones? Another male snake-person, this time sporting a snake head rather than a snake tail, leaned over a smaller collection of boxes and coin purses at the northeastern corner, leveraging his four arms to operate a scale and an abacus simultaneously as his slitted eyes seemed to focus on two different products at a time. And finally, leaning against the southern entrance, was a woman with long, braided hair dressed in a black kimono that featured spider lily patterns. The most human of the bunch, the only snake-like parts of her body were her slitted eyes, amber gems that glowed tantalizingly in the dimness of the room.

[b]“Oh, Lugh,”[/b] she spoke, her voice sibilant and pleasing to the ears. [b]“Who are these fine fellows?”

“Ah, Sarasa. These are my friends! Figured that with more of us, we could push further into the gyunin’s territory.”[/b]

The woman placed her hands together. [b]“Why, that sounds lovely. Would you all be so kind as to do so? Usually we’d be able to do so ourselves, but considering the state of one of our own, some external help in driving back those primitives would be greatly appreciated.”[/b]
[sub][@Shovel][@Searat][@Psyker Landshark][@OwO][@Yankee][/sub][hr]
Man-Joji laughed as he raised himself up onto the driver’s seat beside Ari, the wooden seat groaning slightly under his weight. [b]“And here I thought you Immortals were accustomed to harsher conditions,”[/b] he said, taking the reins and flicking them. [b]“I’ve no promises regarding comfort, but it’ll be enough to keep us warm through the night.”[/b]

With Ari falling silent afterwards, the merchant began to whistle as he drove the carriage off west, where a grove of gnarled trees grew at the outskirts of the village. [b]“A hunters’ cabin,”[/b] he offered in way of explanation, as they continued through, the canopy casting deep shadows while the creaking wheels scared away the wildlife. Gradually, the smells of civilization and the sounds of the village peeled away, swallowed by branches and bushes. The sun continued to fall, and the night continued to encroach. Still, there was no cabin in sight, nor even a sign of a travelled trail. The mule wheezed from the effort; the wagon swayed from the roots underneath. Eventually, it stopped completely, stubbornly refusing to move any further.

Man-Joji urged the mule a couple more times, then sighed.

[b]“Well, suppose that’s as far as we go for a while.”[/b] The merchant reclined, his dark eyes catching what few strands of light still pierced the gloom of the grove as he faced the catgirl. [b]“So I’ve been wondering, Ari. Don’t suppose you’ve caught any [i]rats[/i] within my wares?”[/b]
[sub][@GreenGoat][/sub]