The Belligerents #8

• The Belligerents emerged from the mysterious portal into the dense heat of Ephemeraldion jungle with the mage they'd saved from the ocean previously to thank for it

  • He explained his name was Brine the Baleful and he was attempting to return to Ephemeraldion and his master, Caster, but the jungle was filled with more dangers than when he had previously left it

  • The group agreed to escort him to Ephemeraldion if for no other reason than to find this Caster and put an end to him, considering he may be the one experimenting with the black ichor to combine creatures they'd previously encountered, including Drakadog

• Brine gave each Belligerent a small wicker totem he said would protect them in their trek through the jungle

• The group soon encountered the danger Brine spoke of as creatures resembling an amalgamation of humanoids and four-legged beasts emerged from the jungle and attacked

• Raithe heard a voice within himself begging him not to kill "my children"

• Brine, however, was insistent on killing the creatures, calling them failed experiments of his master

• The group attempted to keep them alive and "cure" them the way they had with the crab beings from the ocean, but these were not humanoids infected but rather grotesque abominations created using the ichor

• Brine explained there had only ever been one perfect creation, only one who was a true being with agency and real-life: a cross between a dragon and a dog

LEVEL UP TO 4