Headed by a Snake

"The villagers are not lizardbloods..." Tycondrius hesitated and shook his head. "Well-- they are... but..."

"Wha?" Iyuri lolled her head back, "I'm confus."

"Confused," Tycon corrected. "The word is confused, young lady."

The denizens of Thorne Village were not dragonborn... or dovahkiin, as Iyuri suggested. Tycon would have been far more wary if the village denizens comprised several dozen dovahkiin.

They were a different kind of lizard-- and if he'd discerned correctly from Elder Thorne's malodorous scent, they were descendent from the Xul bloodline.

The Xul... traditionally worshipped the sea god, as they tended to habitat coastal areas. Yet, the dragon god--

Ugh, empty night.

--the lizard god seemed to be the one influencing Iyuri.

...It became somewhat obvious to Tycon that he'd chanced upon effects of the gods playing their stupid games.

He had encountered similar when the snake god swayed his cultists in Caeruleum to aid in the lizard gods' plans.

Ultimately, it didn't matter who the villagers were aligned to. If they worshipped the lizard god, he'd kill them all. If they still followed the sea god... or some other god, then Tycon merely had another enemy.

He hoped it was the sea god. He was already intent on assisting Krysaos in his quest, and Tycon much preferred having one godslaying quest instead of two.

...At the rate he was uncovering deific intrigue, it became a high priority for him to seek out Hades for his counsel.

The Orcish gentleman could assist him in taking account of which gods he did *not* need to kill.

...

⟬ Elsewhere in the swamps... ⟭

Twelve of twelve-- ah, no. What was his name again?

Stickyfingers scratched at his head.

It was uh...

Bob. Yeah, that's it.

Bob, the Coral Boy with skin as hard as rock-- you could tell because it looked like brass or copper or something stronger than Stickyfingers' handsome light grey.

Bob, the biggest and baddest of the Coral Boys, he loomed over the tiny human girl... so small, she didn't even stand to her knee. He leaned in his face real close and bared his teeth, full of menacing spikes that were probably real scary-like.

"Uh don't loik it," He said.

The girl-- Willow, the Captain said her name was, was absolutely terrified! Shaking in her boots, she was! Probably about to soil herself, too.

That'd be a riot!

"Stand down, Petty Officer Bob," Said the Captain. "What don'tcha like?"

"Dis fing!" Bob yelled. He took the dinky little rock weapon the girl was carrying-- and of course, she didn't put up a fight.

"H-hey! I... I made that!" The girl squeaked.

Bob growled, deep and rumbly, "An' it's stooopid!"

"Aye. I hear 'at," Stickyfingers nodded.

Probably the only one in the crew dumb enough to use a stone weapon was Wonderboy. It was hard to chop into anything worth chopping with that, though. The girlie had to get a decent bit of metal, something you could put a half-decent edge on.

The other Boys murmured their agreements. "Right." "Agreed." "Good, but not good enuff."

"Well, I fink it's real nice," Wonderboy piped up. "Pretty gud fer jus' startin' up, ain't it?"

"No one asked fer YOUR opinion!" Catshit shouted... "Don't listen to 'em girlie. Your best work's absolutely trash and ya should give up before ya--"

"SHUT YER GOBBBB!!!" Bob roared.

Stickyfingers chuckled to himself. That Catshit, he was never gonna get ahead in life. He didn't have any tact. That's why he, himself, and his Looter Boy mates liked to keep quiet.

Real quiet. Real sneaky-like.

Bob forcefully grabbed the human girl's hands and forced his own hatchet into them. It looked like she couldn't carry it one-handed, but she'd figure out how to make it work.

Granted, Stickyfingers and the other Coral Boys made death, destruction, and total annihilation look like a casual swim in a pond. By all good reasoning, a human should be able to match up if they just tried a little to a lot bit harder.

The girl blinked in confusion... "Y-you're giving me this?"

The Captain nodded in approval, "If someone gives you a gift, just accept it, kiddo."

...Stickyfingers never saw Bob use the hatchet-- maybe once or twice, but not really. He always used the big weapon, instead.

Stickyfingers was good at noticing a lot of things that most folks didn't notice. The things that didn't get noticed-- those were the things that were easiest to make disappear.

...like Catshit's tiara, for example.

"Th... thank you?" The humie whispered.

"DON'T FANK ME," Bob sneered in disgust. "Not before ya chop at least one fing today. Erryone in da crew... dey'z good at choppin. Dey's good at killin... and murderin'"

"You'z gotta get gud at one fing, if ya wanna join da crew," Doc offered. "You'z even get to choose ihihi!"

Doc was real smart. That's why he was a surgeon-- and put in charge of surgering. He was real good with the crossbows and the shooting. That's why the Bosun let him use the really good weapons. And he had tact. That's why the Captain let him surger the others, in the first place.

"Hold on!" The Captain scowled, "I'm the Cap'n! I say who's good enough to join the crew and who ain't!"

"That's e-ZACTLY roight, Cap'n!" Bob clenched his fist.

Stickyfingers nodded slowly as the other Coral Boys resounded with a deep, "ohhhhh" of understanding.

Good words. Exactly right. The Captain had the best verbiage out of the crew. Bosun was somewhere up there, too.

"And is my sister good enough to join *your crew*?" Said the elfy girl.

Captain Krysaos turned to her, "Actually, probably, yeah. The crew seems to like her."

"Not until she CHOPS SUMFIN'!!!" Bob shouted.

The Captain turned, tilted his awesome hat up and raised an eyebrow, "You say somethin', Petty Officer Bob?"

Stickyfingers felt like he'd been dowsed with depths-cold water, all along his back. He didn't like the look in the Captain's eyes. He was the *Captain*, after all. That meant he was in charge... and Stickyfingers and the other Coral Boys didn't exactly favor being keelhauled.

Bob placed a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat, "Da crew takes care of its own, Cap'n. Gimme da say so and da li'ul one'll be swabbin' decks 'sgood as Wonderboy an' shootin' skellyboyz as gud as Doc in two shakes of a tuna's ta-il."

"...Ooh," Stickyfingers nodded, fully impressed.

Petty Officer Bob-- he had tact. It was why he was the Captain before the Captain-proper showed up. Also, because he was big, bad, and real strong-- but tact, too.

"You trying to take my sister away?" Imperia shook her head, her tiny little pointy ears waving like little fish peeking out from sea rocks.

It made Stickyfingers' belly rumble.

"Tch. What's wrong, girlie?" Kryaos scoffed, "You and your sister too good for bein' part of a pirate crew?"

"Your crew and the business of privateering, I have no issue with," The elf rolled her eyes. "It's you I find distasteful."

"Anyroad," Krysaos grinned... probably a real attractive human-y grin, since it made the elf girl's heart skip a beat, "That's up to *Princess* Willow."

"I'll... I'll do it," Willow nodded, hefting up her chopping axe on her shoulder. "I'll be a pirate."

"Anuvver one for DA CREW!!!" Bob raised his arm in VICTORY.

"ANUVVER ONE!!!" "YEAHHH" "WOO!!!" The Boys started to yell.

That sounded good. Stickyfingers raised up his own fist, "BLOOD and 'FUNNNDERRRR!!!"

"""VIC'TRY AT SEEEAAA!!!"""

Willow fidgeted to herself, real nervous-like, "I... I won't go without my brother, though."

"TWOFER!!!" Bob raised his arm again.

"ANUVVER ONE!!" "WOOOOO!!!" "At's a GUD DEEEEAL!!"

Two was better than one. Stickyfingers would know.

"Alright, ALL riiiight!!" Krysaos waved his palms like he was trying to quiet everyone down. "Now all of ya's... tell me why in the seven gods damned hells you're all here."

Everyone turned to Bob, Stickyfingers included.

Stickyfingers knew why *he* was here.

He was here for looting.

Most of the other Boys... they just tagged along-- the smarter ones, anyroad. They helped carry most of the junk that Stickyfingers honestly couldn't care less for.

Petty Officer Bob bared his teeth, "Job's done, Cap'n."

"The repairs on the ship..." Krysaos scowled... "They're finished?"

"Aye, Cap'n."

"You helped the villagers with fishin' and whatever dumb shite they were askin' for?"

"Aye, Cap'n."

"...I'm assuming you boys cut corners at every possible step, the ship's repaired to barely ramshackle condition, and you supplied the villagers with the barest minimum they asked for."

"Aye AYE, Cap'n!!" Bob put his hands on his wood-armored waist, looking real proud of himself.

Stickyfingers took a little bit of that pride, too. He and Doc helped with the calculating to get that just perfect. Quick maths.

"Human," Imperia twisted her lips, "Ask your crew what's in the bags."

The Captain opened his mouth to speak-- but it was the little one who spoke first.

"What's in there?" Willow pointed.

"SPEAK WIV YER CHEST, GIRLIE!!!" Catshit yelled.

"WHAT'S IN THE BAGS?!" Willow shouted in surprise.

"Would'ja look at 'at?" Doc nodded, nudging Stickyfingers' elbow. "Instant an' willin' obedience to orda's."

"Aye," He nodded in response. "She'll be a good 'un,"

The little humie had a real good warcry. Screechy too-- the sort of shout that gets your blood boiling and ready for murdering.