[IC] Remove this please, for it is dead

[Silver Carrot]

"There's nothing distrustful about bits of cloth. I'm more interested in what kind of habits he's picked up, and any strange things he's learned."

Grek studied the strange new Kobold for a little while.

"Don't you ever get hot wearing all that cloth? And surface dwellers don't even have caves, they have houses with windows and fireplaces! How are you supposed to stay cool out there dressed like that? It's just not sensible."

[bloonewb]

"Cool enough," muttered Alexius, looking down at his armor and garments. The mail rattled a bit as he moved. "My Gods keep me comfortable." In reality, it was a little too warm under the heated mail. He unfortunately couldn't sweat like his human compatriots, and this made it very annoying to stay outside for very long. Usually he tried not thinking about it, but the headache was threatening to topple him.

It was then he realized he hasn't formally introduced himself to everyone. Likely most people have forgotten him. He stuck out his hand to shake, a human custom he rather liked and wanted to bring to his tribe. "I never caught your name. I'm Alexius Lionus Garracus of Absence."

[Aristocles]

Arjun looked around. "That's nice and all, but we really should be getting back down into the cave. They're expecting us back at t he village, and the tribe will be happy to see you-" Arjun looked at Alexius for a moment. His armor, clothes, and human manners. "-I think. We can continue this conversation as we walk down the tunnel." It was a long, smooth tunnel lit by torches whose flames were maintained by the tribe's shaman.

[Silver Carrot]

Grek cocked his head and shrugged. "Well, one thing you clearly haven't learned is how to lie convincingly."

He looked down at the outstretched hand, puzzled. "I don't...I don't get it. What is this?" he mumbled as he followed the two into the tunnel.

"Well, I'm looking forward to telling the chief I've had another productive day of not making any traps. At least not finished ones....Oh!" He exclaimed as he forgot about the fake trap that was still in the forest path somewhere. "...Nevermind, I'm sure it'll be fine where it is," he though to himself.

(Chekhov's Gun planted :3)

[bloonewb]

Alexius peered down into the old cave, contemplating whether or not to follow his compatriots. Sure, he had lived under these caves his whole childhood, but now looking at it as a grown (and educated) kobold he's starting to suspect a few structural fallacies in the caves. Is it his paranoid imagination? Is it real? He gave an experimental step inside, fully expecting the roof to crash down on him like the open mouth that it resembles. Nothing. Maybe it's just him.

The interior of the caves were noticeably cooler than the outside, something Alexius can appreciate. Every cave was connected to another room or opening, creating a complex and confusing system to non-tribesmen. Because of this, the distant sound of conversing was always present.

"So how has the tribe been?" he asked Grek, desperately trying to be friendly to his new acquaintance.

[Aristocles]

Arjun overheard the conversation and decided to contribute to it.

"Our numbers have been growing quite a bit, Kut- er- Alexius." He made a mental note to use the newer name. "Our hatchery is still full, and I've been sure to, er, help contribute to that." He spared the others the details. "Apart from that, we've been opening up some new caves. We've discovered a new batch of hot springs. It's really helped now that the old ones were getting overcrowded."

As they walked, they could see kobolds from the tribe scurry about. Some carried ore in brown sacks slung over their shoulders. Others held baskets of food foraged from the nearby caves as well as meat brought in from hunting in some of the deeper caverns. A few even carried fish caught from subterranean rivers.

[Silver Carrot]

Grek was about to answer when Arjun took over and answered for him. Grek just nodded and thought 'Yep. Yep, that's about right. Not like I wanted to speak anyway.'

The talk of hatchery soured his mood a little further. Yes, some of us haven't contributed to the hatchery our entire lives. There was no need to rub it in. One day there might be a female Kobold who'd want a small, scrawny trapmaker to be the father of her children, but Grek really, really doubted it.

Grek was definitely gravitating more towards 'Alexius' than Arjun. Even if Grek found the newcomer eccentric to the point of weird, he was also something of an outlier of the tribe. He noticed that he was looking around him a little uncomfortable.

"Feeling claustrophobic? I'm sure you'll get used to it again quickly enough. Didn't take me long to stop feeling paranoid and exposed when I'm out there."

[bloonewb]

Now that Grek mentioned it, Alexius did feel a little uncomfortable returning to the low roofed caves. He had gotten a little too accustomed to the wide, cavernous interior of the grand temple of Scen. He began to feel sure of the fact that the walls closed in on him when he wasn't looking, and he began to wonder about the other voices. If he could hear them, they could surely hear him. They could even be in his thoughts. Are they plotting against him now? Waiting for a sign of weakness? Okay, deep breaths. Think of blue water, clear skies, okay.

The cave hall lead to Arjun's quarters, which has changed very little since he last saw it. There was the table and the chairs, both blackened by accidental fire blasts, all very familiar. There was the bed, which Alexius distinctly remembers helping put out more than a few times. There was even the musky smell, hinting of Arjun and some lizardess' . . . nightly activities.

[Aristocles]

Arjun was one of a few kobolds in the tribe who had actually bothered to build a hut of his own. Most of the tribe slept on little mats, hammocks, or piles of hay. Most didn't even own property save for a few pieces of clothing and personal effects. As a sorcerer, Arjun was allowed this extra liberty, something he shared in common with the chief and the shaman. His furniture had been imported from the surface, hewn from cheap wood in a rather crude fashion, pieces made by humans which were originally intended for the low end market for halflings. For humans, it would be undersized and awful, but it was a luxury for kobolds.

Even with the burned furniture, there were still several mats and furs draped over the floor. Arjun lay on one of them, propping himself up against one of the many pillows as he stretched out his limbs.

"Make yourselves at home. I've got some food in that pot back there. Mostly just dried meat."

[Silver Carrot]

Grek began to look around, nose through everything he could get his claws on, lift things up, flip through books. It was easy to tell he wasn't well versed in the ways of social etiquette. "This is a nice hut you've got, if I'm honest."

He looked over at Alexius. The poor guy was still suffering in these caves, and Grek did feel some degree of compassio though had absolutely not idea how to express it. He eventually went with "Hey, you should probably eat something. It might settle your nerves."

[bloonewb]

Eat something, right. When was the last time he ate? It was yesterday's evening, when he was assigned his first task of traveling among local tribes of various races and converting them. He recalled a loud hall, filled with acolytes like himself, feasting while the Lower Pontiff told them that was the last time they were allowed to feast in their lives. One by one, they had knelt before a statue of one of the Titans, swore a vow, and stood as clerics. Now, where was that pot?

After filling himself, Alexius sat down upon one of the mats, and opened up his holy text. He flipped to where he left off, and began to read. He tried to block out the constant murmuring, focusing instead on the deathly quiet of the temples at night. The room melted away from him, replaced instead by roaring Gods, cryptic prophesies, and old teachings.

[Aristocles]

"Uh, Alexius? Alex? Er... Kutur? Hello? You there?" Arjun had noticed that his old friend had gone into something resembling a trance. He put a piece of salted beef in front of Alexius' snout. "Are you there, my friend?" No reply. Growing concerned, he took a step back, still clutching the food in his clawed hands. "Why do you go where I cannot follow?"