Curiosity did what, now?

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold's research cave is coming along nicely, after her previous adventure - the floor carefully flattened (by teleporting stone out) and softened (by teleporting sand in); the permanent portals to Deva and the cavern's exit, currently closed to anyone who doesn't know the passwords, but marked off, with spaces set aside for several more portals; her experimenting supplies tucked away behind further portals in her workspace; a small cache set up for her new translation necklace and any other magical items she might happen to find in her travels.

And, now, another portal, leading to another new world. She double-checks that she has her traveling gear - translation necklace, teleporting ring, twine - completes the spell, and peers through.

Comments

[lurkingkobold]

"Tigerfolk are the other kind of people who live around here," she pushes back the curtain and gestures for Elarron to go ahead of her out of the hut. "They look like tigers - big stripey cats - but person-shaped, with hands and everything. Mostly they leave us alone and we leave them alone, but, well, only mostly; we've had some trouble with them recently. And they turn up with unusual sorts of magic, sometimes; if it was someone from our world who made the trap that brought you here, it was most likely them, so we're trying to catch them so we can ask."

[last_one_out]

Out he goes.

"I would've thought it would make more sense for the trap to have been set from my world to send things somewhere else, rather than set from this world to bring things here. Magic that moves things from place to place is hardly remarkable in my world, although it's usually not so... trap-like."

[lurkingkobold]

River nods. "We were looking for them anyway, though, so we might as well try asking."

The workshop appears to be a small hut set away from everything else, and the path to it takes them past pens full of all sorts of animals, many of which are enthusiastic to see River.

[last_one_out]

The animals are cute. Elarron smiles.

[lurkingkobold]

River, too. She doesn't stop to pet the animals, but does explain what they are - this is a giant hedgehog, the regular ones are little; here's a bobcat, and over there are its giant cousins; here's a herd of deer, they only come in the one size; here's a moose, they also come in a giant version - no, this one is the small kind, really.

About two thirds of the way along, they come to a giant tortoise, which she does stop for. "This one's mine, his name is Beetle," she explains while she scritches his head.

[last_one_out]

"The variety of animals you keep here is amazing," says Elarron. "We have just as many kinds of creature at home, but we haven't domesticated nearly this many of them."

[lurkingkobold]

"Hmm? Oh, they're not domesticated. I mean, they're tame enough as individuals, but most of them are only one or two generations from being wild; they're more a reserve, while their species are going through a lean phase or in case of a natural disaster. Like these guys," she indicates the giant rabbits in the next pen, "there was a disease a few years back that nearly wiped out the little rabbits - we had to do a major reintroduction the next spring, actually, and the fox population still isn't quite recovered - but oftentimes when something like that happens, the same disease crops up later in a similar species, so we picked up a few breeding pairs of giant rabbits, just in case. It wasn't a problem, thankfully, but these guys are too tame to release, so they'll be here for the rest of their lives."

[last_one_out]

"...Huh," he says, impressed.

[lurkingkobold]

She grins. "Yeah, that's a lot of the work I do - I don't work with the wild-caught animals, we have dedicated trainers for that since it takes a lot of close work with each one, but working with the first-generation babies and release candidates and scouting trainees is a lot of fun, and there's plenty of that to do."

[last_one_out]

"It's an impressive project," he says. "There's not really anything like it at home, that I know of, but it's a good idea."

[lurkingkobold]

More grinning, and then River comments, "you're taking this very well, you know, I'm a little surprised."

[last_one_out]

"Am I? Yeah, I guess I am." He shrugs. "It just doesn't seem to me that getting very upset about everything would do me any good, I guess."

[lurkingkobold]

"That's a good way of looking at it," she nods. "We won't hold it against you if you need some time to wallow, though. Goodness knows most of us would."

[last_one_out]

"Well, thank you, I'll keep that in mind."

[lurkingkobold]

She nods, and gives the tortoise one last pat. "We should get going; I haven't actually checked how much needs to be done at the workshop, hopefully we'll be able to get it set up before dinner."

[last_one_out]

"Here's hoping. All right, lead on."

[lurkingkobold]

She does.

The workshop is in pretty good shape - two wheelbarrow loads suffice to clear the extra things out of it, and then they can go looking for furnishings. Elarron has several choices to make - hammock or pile of soft straw, for now, and does he want he mages to grow him a human-style bed which will take about a week; blue or green or silver or brown curtain to divide his sleeping quarters from the rest of the hut; which style of clothing that they have on hand in his size suits him best and does he want any other alterations while the clothier is modifying it to accommodate his tail; does he want his own cooking setup and if so are any of these magical cooking devices similar enough to what he's familiar with to be useful and what kinds of foods does he want to keep on hand; is this table and chair set okay; is this dishware okay; is there anything else he expects to want.

[last_one_out]

He prefers a hammock and a brown curtain, and has no strong opinions about clothes but readily picks something, and picks out a set of foods and magical cooking devices that he feels confident about, and okays the table and chair and dishware, and expresses some reservations about the lighting situation:

"It's so bright here - I mean, I can probably adjust to only sleeping at night if I have to, and I'm not sure sleeping during the day will be a problem until I try it, but I might end up wanting to ask for more curtains to block out more of the light so I can sleep."

[lurkingkobold]

River is a little surprised at this, but nods. "We only sleep at night, but it does make sense that you wouldn't, now that you mention it." She thinks for a moment, then: "Of course - we have those thick curtains we use for the animals that need dark dens. I'm sure we have a spare set someplace; they might need to air out, but they'll definitely do the trick. Hm... I'm not sure where they are, and it's getting a bit too close to dinnertime to go ask about them. ...and I should go start cooking, anyway," she adds after a moment.

[last_one_out]

Elarron shrugs. "The curtains aren't urgent. It's good to know there might be something available."

[lurkingkobold]

River nods, and leads the way back to the main part of the village. After they've walked past a couple huts, she goes 'hmm', and then asks, "what do you think of Dusk joining us for dinner?"

[last_one_out]

He smiles. "Dusk seems nice, I like her."

[lurkingkobold]

This gets a particularly pleased grin, and River takes the next turn in the path. "She is, and she's a surprisingly good judge of character, too. If she thinks you're all right, that's a big step closer to everybody else being comfortable with you."

[last_one_out]

"She reminds me a little of my brother Inlaith."

[lurkingkobold]

River nods, and then, "hold on, this is her." She approaches the hut, calls quietly, "Dusk?", and waits for a response.

After half a minute, Dusk pokes her head out and gives River a curious look.

"Would you like to join us for dinner? Just me and Elarron; I'm making corn chowder, but I can make that strawberry cornbread you like, too."

"Dim?"

"Sure," River nods.

"Okay," and Dusk steps out to join them.