As Felicia prepared to leave for her diplomatic mission, Sable suddenly appeared beside her, seemingly determined to accompany her this time. The little giant chick had grown quite a bit since she was born, having more prominent junior feathers that covered her body. Like always, Felicia was prepared to quickly shove her back inside, shutting the door and fleeing, but she hesitated a little this time. Afterall, she couldn't keep Sable cooped up in the tavern walls forever, even if she was worried for her safety. Perhaps... sometime soon she'd let her accompany her. But not this time, who knows what the lizardmen would do if she delivered fresh bird straight to their doorstep? With a sigh, she patted her little companion on the head before leaving.
***
As she made her way south, following the river downstream like she did when she was far less experienced than she is now, she carried gifts for the lizardmen provided by the guild. Since they were sighted hunting fish, the guild organized a crate of premium quality Salmun to be delivered, with some healing herbs, which she carried in her hands as she walked. After travelling for a day, she rested at the outpost on the outskirts of the swamp region(which she worked at for a month many quests ago), before setting off again early the next day.
Similar to how she remembered it, the place below the steep waterfall was filled with yellowed trees and tall carnivorous plants. Giant reeds and cattails also dotted the marshland, with the strangely-shaped slimes, dragon-like alligators and giant dragonflies with pincers that she remembered from before slinking in to and out of hiding. Since she had descended from the waterfall by cautiously climbing/hopping down some rocky terrain on the side, she could now see some of the other wildlife that was reported by others in this region. Small crabs, crayfish and lizards cautiously darted around on the ground, whilst giant snakes combed the area looking for prey. Additionally, there were some small-ish birds sitting on some of the lower branches of the yellowed trees watching the swampy waters for prey, but even from afar, Felicia could see that their talons were sharp enough to stab into the branches they were sitting in with ease.
Although she remembered this place being dangerous, she didn't think it was this bad. Unfortunately, to even reach the lizardmen past the lake she'd have to cross a small portion of this marshland to get to the eastern side of it. Things would be much easier if the bridge had been built, as she could just go round all of this, but unfortunately, it was still under construction. Still, she didn't think it'd be that bad crossing this narrow strip of wetlands, afterall, she could even see the other side from here. She should've ideally gotten herself some proper boots before coming here, but she wasn't too positive about stepping in the water either. Hence she just froze the water under her feet as she cautiously crept forward.
Due to her experience in hiding and ambushing, she was able to keep her footsteps quiet as she made her way across. Her eyes darted from left to right constantly, incredibly cautious of any movement within her vicinity. Fortunately, she seemed to be in the clear as she safely made it to the eastern side of the marshland. However, just as she stepped on dry land again, the ground opened up beneath her and swallowed her whole. Suddenly, she was bathed in digestive juices within some weird fleshy plant mouth. Realizing that she had been fooled by a carnivorous plant's disguise, she quickly summoned a fire spell to blast her way out of this mess.
But strangely, she couldn't. It was as if she couldn't access the mana within her at all. Panicking, she quickly attempted to draw her sword but it was too late. The digestive juice around her not only slowly eroded her body, but also sedated her and made her mind numb. As she struggled to stay awake, suddenly the plant was split open and she blacked out from the collision with the ground.
When she awoke, she found herself inside a small wooden hut, seemingly made with the wood from the yellowed trees around the swamp region. Her body was carefully cleaned and redressed in a simple over-sized brown robe, as her old garments and equipment lay on a table next to her. Just as she was lost in thought, she suddenly realized that a small scaly human with a crocodile jaw was peeking at her from the doorway. "Ma'Urqia the human's awake!" He called out as he noticed her looking at him, before walking over to her excitedly.
"Hey hey, where do you come from? How'd you get here? You almossst got eaten by that plant y'know? You're lucky my Da sssaved you, and that the Marashaw Tribe didn't get to you first! Otherwise, you'd already be eaten by now~!"
He spoke quickly with a strange accent, but his enthusiasm made Felicia unconsciously smile. She calmly answered his questions before another, bigger lizardwoman pushed him out of the way. "Draz ssstop bothering our guessst." She spoke calmly with a deep tone, causing the little boy to dejectedly leave the room. "You're lucky you're alive you know?" She began with what seemed to be a teasing smile on her face. "I know, I was careless."
"Mm, it'sss good that you underssstand that. Welcome to the Taeruga Tribe little one. Why where you wandering near these ssswampsss?"
She hissed whilst checking on her pulse, seemingly the one that had treated her. After explaining her purpose, and the meaning of the crate of Salmun the lizardmen had kindly retrieved alongside her body, the lizardwoman fell into thought for a moment before responding. "Mm, I sssee. I will relay your city's kind intentions to my brother, as he is our tribe'ss chieftain. Unfortunately, he has been out on a hunting trip for a few dayss so I know not when he will return. But pleasse resst here as long ass you need, jusst don't wander near the easst as the Marasshaw Tribe is located over there. They, unfortunately, hunt humanss and other racess like yoursself."
Her tone was calm and steady, hence it was hard to tell what kind of relations they had with the other tribe, and whether the race hunting was just a minor disagreement or a great conflict between them. Nonetheless, Felicia was immensely grateful for being saved, which she tried her best to repay during her time at the tribe's village. She often helped hunt alongside the other lizardmen, or helped with some of the new huts being built upon stilts. They told her that floods have recently begun happening every month or so, hence all new buildings had to be raised above the ground to avoid the worst of it. As much as she wanted to investigate further, especially about the Marashaw Tribe, after a day of rest and recovery, she chose to leave. She had much to report back to Scribel afterall. Hopefully, the tribe would send back a positive response!
Kindly, some of the lizardfolk escorted her to the outskirts of the swamp, teaching her some of the things to look out for if she returned, like the telltale signs of some of the various carnivorous plants that littered the land, or how to avoid the sight of the giant mantises. They were lovely folk, Felicia could only hope that the guild would have positive relations with them in the future.
*
