Phaid the Bullywug kept his slow pace as he approached the furry medicine man and the mushroom man. After the events of a few weeks ago, Phaid and all the remaining Bullywugs had learned to avoid anyone they didn’t know. But Phaid considered himself a brave creature, at least for a Bullywug. He was still embarrassed over his actions during the massacre that happened in the Everdark a few weeks back. When Phaid and some fellow Bullywugs first got wind of the slaughter, their fight or flight instinct kicked in. They decided on flight, retreating to the deep water tunnels of their domain. The frog-men would hide in this submerged section of the dungeon for several days, praying that whatever was killing the other creatures wasn’t amphibious. It had been a low point for Phaid, the so called Puddle Knight. When the hidden Bullywugs did finally return to the surface of the dungeon, they found most of their kin slain, just a few feet away from the water’s edge.

Since then, the Bullywugs had stayed close to their watery home. They had not wanted to go and see how the other races were affected by the slaughtered, worried minds wondering if the goblin clan survived and would once again attack them. Or what happened to the Dark Elves, Undead, or other powerful beings who ran large portions of the Everdark. But as Phaid approached the two creatures, he wondered if the massacre hadn’t been as bad if these ones survived it.

But Phaid didn’t appear to be the only antsy away, leaving a fog of yellow spores. Phaid thought that he was more imposing than he thought, only for a spore to touch his nose, causing it to go numb. But before any more of the spores could reach Phaid, the furry medicine man handed him some sort of vegetable, telling him to suck out its innards. Phaid wondered if this was a free first taste, so he did as instructed, a slime leaving the plant and coating his throat. As he did this, Phaid no longer felt the numbness as the spores landed on him.

The medicine man then told him to keep the plant in his mouth if he wished to breathe and speak. Phaid quickly realized that this wasn’t a free first hit, but rather to do away with what the mushroom man had done. He figured that the bitter tasting slime should of been a giveaway. Phaid naturally moved the plant around in his mouth, always keeping it secreting.

“Thanks for whatever this is,” said Phaid with some trouble as he tried to keep the plant firmly in his mouth, “But do you have any of those spotted flowers, the ones that can take you to the dream plane? I have trinkets to trade for it.”

What Phaid didn’t mention was that these trinkets had been looted from the bodies of fellow Bullywugs. After so many died in the massacre, they could at least continue to benefit the clan. And by that Phaid meant benefit himself, the definite next head of the clan, especially since most of the competition had died.

[Interacting with: [@SleepingSilence]]