Well well well. Welcome back to another Werewolf Wednesday y’all! Looks like one of the higher ups back in New Jade city remembered they had a w̶a̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ special lil guy on the payroll and more importantly, on the loose.
So I went back to the Ice lagoons to drop off my gift. Naturally, we tapped that barrel and got to catching up. They said some scrawny fella came asking weird questions a week ago, like: You met this Klah fella? He do anything weird? He cause any trouble? that sort of thing.
Man I love these guys, they had my back. They apparently made up some story about how I saved them during the blizzard and I was the best guest they’d ever had. Then when he asked which way I went they gave him bogus directions. ❤️
With it sounding like they’re getting curious but not quite willing to send a considerable squad after me again I’ve decided it’s time to lay low. I’m finally catching up with some old friends in one of my old haunts.
Given this change I won’t be as free to roam around, any trips I do will likely just be for supplies and thoroughly boring… Never fear, I’ll still be lurking in the shadows.
Heya folks, ya boi Klah found a lil side gig here in town- which is good because that rum ended up being more expensive than I thought! (and heavy, barrels man…) So fret not, I knew y’all were dying to know more about those snow cone flavors for Werewolf Wednesday.
I was killing time in town while preparing myself to leave and trying to ‘lighten’ that barrel as much as possible, so I got to know the snow cone shopkeeper pretty well. Business was booming and he was running out of some of the local flavors- so I offered to help.
He seemed a little hesitant to send a stranger out but I assured him I was more than capable of anything he could throw at me. Well I get it now, sky-lilies happen to grow on the cliffs that overlook the bay here. Strong winds & sheer cliffs… Ah, fun times…
So those other flavors! They were also quite good but less my style. There was a zesty yellow one that really peps you up, maybe good after a night of drinking? The blue one was interesting, it had a cooling effect and as long as you don’t get a headache it’s very refreshing.
The green one was surprisingly rich and vegetal, pretty adventurous for most but I bet Xinul would like it. The red one was also intense, syrupy sweet and tart fruitiness paired with spicy chili seems like a strange combination but it really does work!
Looks like the earliest I’ll be leaving is tomorrow when more ships come to port, most the bars have already scooped up the latest shipment of rum for the coming warm season. Speaking of the warm season, I’ve decided to review a local treat this Werewolf Wednesday.
Portsmouth being as far south as it is has a rather warm climate, folks around here have taken to making chilled snacks to help pass the time in the hottest parts of the day. Snow cones are the most popular so I decided to review this local cuisine.
Should you give a Hoot ? Overall: Yes, I’m sure there’s a flavor out there for everyone. Hands down my favorite was purple somberry. A lovely dark color with that dull sweet flavor the berries are so well known for. Of note is that the berries are crushed whole daily!
You can tell because the snow cone actually numbs your tongue a little by the end, you’d only get that if the seeds were damaged and their essence hasn’t had time to break down. The sky-lily nectar flavor also stood out to me.
It really doesn’t visually stand out since the nectar is colorless, and neither does the flavor. That’s the best part though, your palate can never grow tired of the subtle flavor and you can really enjoy the experience, it’s almost meditative.
…I’ll need to try the other flavors before I leave town.
Alright y’all I’m a little shook this Werewolf Wednesday. So I decided to follow up on where that butt-bird scurried off to. As suspected it turned out to be the outlet of a large storm drain, luckily it’s the dry season so it was pretty safe and easy to traverse.
When I got close to the mouth of the tunnel I saw a few scraps of cloth, nothing to unusual to see washed out to a place like this. However once I started down the tunnel I began finding more and more discarded articles of clothing.
At first just a few, but they gradually started to cover the bottom of the tunnel. I was a little worried I might run into someone or possibly a small community of people living in the tunnels beneath the town. Had the new Happy Salmon Co. displaced some of the residents and forced them into a life of poverty?
Had the new Happy Salmon Co. displaced some of the residents and forced them into a life of poverty? I thought, perhaps there was someone calling the butt-birds to do their bidding, some sort of butt-bird shaman?? Could it be so simple as clothing washed out and collected here from the storm drains in the city? My thoughts were wandering quite wildly.
I caught a glimpse of light ahead of me and the smell of a butt-bird nest grew stronger so I snuck closer to a larger chamber where some sunlight was making it down through a roadside drain… a glint of light blinded me for a moment, there was a mirror down there of all things.
When my vision readjusted I couldn’t believe my eyes. Clothes were lining the floor with small piles about the room. There it was… a butt-bird with a top hat on in front of the mirror, and a small group surrounding it, bobbing their heads and clapping their wings in… approval?
Tbh, I’m unnerved that these little guys may be smarter than they look… I think I’m gonna stick to fish for a while Maybe I should ‘review’ some of the bars here to take my mind off of the butt-birds and think of what to do next.
Howdy y’all, ya boi Klah has just made it to the beach at Portsmouth for Werewolf Wednesday. Even cresting the hill above the bay I could tell things have really changed here. There were some fancy new fishing boats departing the docks.
Business is really booming here, looks like a new company has moved in and built a big building in the center of town. Some group called the “Happy Salmon Co.” I was checking around and it looked like my old hole in the wall I used to go was torn down.
While taking in the new layout and searching for a new place to stay I spotted something curious near the water under the pier. There was a lil Butt-bird poking around the rocks. Normally they prefer to hide near marsh grass so it seemed unusual to find one here.
When I tried to get closer to investigate it spotted me and scurried off into a big pipe that seems to connect to the sewers or something. Maybe it’s time for more tunnel spelunking? I’m sure new Butt-bird behavior like this is worth documenting!
Well, it was finally time to leave those folks out by the Ice Lagoons alone and get a move on. I’m glad they haven’t sent anyone to track me down yet since I’m having fun with all the freedom I have for myself and Werewolf Wednesday.
Speaking of the village - We ended up partying so much that between us, the weather, and the road closures around the monster kingdom they’ve missed quite a few shipments of b̶o̶o̶z̶e̶ supplies! I told them I used to be something of a supply runner before my current gig.
So I’m heading South to find a nice port town and pick up some rum, that’ll be a nice treat to repay their kindness I think! I really will miss them, first place I stopped kicked me out before I even opened my mouth Guess I forgot how wild my hair had gotten…
I passed through the Greenbelt Forest again, looks like Kul and Xinul are still on edge from the fire, they haven’t totally settled in yet so I couldn’t stick around long. Exciting news though, according to the pack… Xinul is expecting some pups!
When I said that Kul must be excited too, the pack didn’t have much to say… I forgot Kul only just stepped up to lead the pack, so these pups may be of Xinul’s late mate. Wolf time moves so much differently, I get mixed up when I’m not around.
Huh … well, welcome back to another Werewolf Wednesday y’all. Feeling fresh and recovered this week I decided to trek out and follow up on the rumors floating about the Ice Lagoons to see if I could explain the phenomena. I’m not sure I solved anything though.
As you may imagine the Ice Lagoons are generally not a very hospitable sort of biome, so I went dressed this time for a long trek. And long it was, hours along the desolate black sandy shores and trackless iceberg ridden waters.
After the wonder of the place wore off an eerie feeling began to sink in- wasn’t this place supposed to be known for its unique endemic life? Where was everything? Where was anything? Just as I had begun to ponder that a strange noise broke the silence.
It was like a voice? but somehow off- like a crow or a parrot imitating a human perhaps? No that’s not quite right. The way it carried on the wind was strange too, I couldn’t seem to track it with how it seemed to bounce off the ice, no matter how long I spent listening.
Eventually I only had another hour of good daylight left and I was getting hungry, so I decided it was time to turn back. That’s when I spotted a lone sea lion… was the sound coming from it? I whistled to grab it’s attention, but when it turned I swear it had a woman’s face.
I was shocked, but before I could even blink the creature had slipped into the water and out of sight for good. That’s another one for the list of weird crap I’ve run into. Well anyways, I’m drinking off the experience now and planning my next move. Until next time y’all, cheers!
Sorry about the delay on the usual Werewolf Wednesday you all expect. My fingers are just now thawing out enough to report back I figured since I had already been through the area recently I’d make another trip up north to explore some of the culture and wildlife there.
There’s a peculiar breed of rabbits that can be found in abundance around Ice Lagoons and parts of the Monster Kingdom. While many rabbits that are found in temperate climates have a distinct white winter coat they develop, these rabbits never leave the cold and keep a white coat.
They can rarely be found as far east as Kulningvale from what I’ve heard, when they migrate during colder years. I figured crossing the border into the monster kingdom would be a bad idea given the political climate, so I tried to find some communities near the Ice Lagoons.
I found a cozy little logging village to settle in and explore around. See these ice rabbits are considered a local delicacy in the north, apparently normal methods of cooking ruin the flavor so it’s cured in the cold- shaving thin cuts off to serve.
Unfortunately the rumors I had heard didn’t include anything about how dangerous they could be when cornered, especially to someone dressed as light as me. I managed to track some down and catch a few in a trap. When I went to retrieve them they bit my hands and through my shoes.
Waves of cold shot through my limbs, it was a very unusual sensation… I’m not sure exactly of the mechanism but I’m all too familiar with the end result. They were easy prey but I still suffered some painful frostbite. The locals have been kind enough to let me recover here.
Hey y’all, sorry for the brief Werewolf Wednesday - I left in a bit of a hurry so I spent most of my time getting everything in order to leave. I say that as if I’ve gotten any sort of official clearance. HA, nah that’s for the old timers to figure out- ey at least I left a memo.
Without any sort of ‘big mission’ in the works like before I decided I should do what the actual job description is supposed to entail, more or less… the LOSC almanac is severely lacking so I’ll be out gathering data for that.
I’m sure they’ll figure out how to catch up with me when they decide they need me again, but for now I’ll do them a favor and keep sending my notes along. Finally gettin’ back to living like I’m used to! Those big jobs aren’t exactly my style.
Heya! Klah’s back at it with Werewolf Wednesday and I’ve psyched myself out again. I can’t help it though, everything seems so inexplicably tied together- even if I’ve made it out to be bigger than it really is there just has to be kind of conspiracy here!
So Sammy gave me the address of a master locksmith in town as a lead for where that key could go. Oddly enough this fella’s shop was run out of a dingy little place tucked in an alley downtown, the old sign is so worn it’s no wonder I passed it by.
Surprisingly the old guy behind the counter recognized the key right away, with a glance at the serial number he picked a ledger from the shelf. It was one of his first jobs when they built the nearby apartments. With a tired look he gave me the address and wished me luck.
The route there was eerily familiar, as I passed by the Stronghand Tower to a residential area situated behind it. I ignored the detour signs on the road, and pressed forward to where the apartments were, towards the low rumble of excavators.
I found the apartments but it wasn’t going to be easy to search the property, there was a sign up announcing the recent “public utility upgrades” and imminent domain order for residents of the area. The whole place was fragmented by dig sites.
I spent a good 30 minutes trying to search the area when I was stopped by someone in a uniform, they were carrying something that seemed suspicious and they were approaching me with a piece of paper. Was this a warning from whoever is behind this to back off?
I didn’t stick around to find out, my feet carried me out of there before I could get my thoughts straight……
Looking back on it I think it was just a Pupper Eats delivery boy trying to find an apartment just like me… Oh well! It certainly snapped me to my senses
Alright… unfortunately I think I’m gonna have to let this scoop go soon- maybe I can get further once things have cooled down. I’ve hit too many dead ends for this to be mere coincidence. My next Werewolf Wednesday may see me leaving the city as discreetly as possible!
I think I’ve spent too much time in the city, it feels like these buildings are looming over me and looking down with a masked malevolence. I’ve surely drawn unwanted attention, who knows what eyes watch me from high above and behind the callous glare of these windows.
I couldn’t leave well enough alone; I snooped around the Stronghand HQ Tower and the surrounding area. Since it doesn’t seem like they’re the type to welcome walk-ins I decided to try my luck with searching their trash. I know I know, quite the step up from lurking in the sewers!
So I tailed a waste management employee leaving the facility and politely asked if I could have a moment of his time and a peek in the trash. He seemed to be in a really bad mood though so I went ahead and relieved him of some work and sent him on break to chill out
What’s unusual is that the vehicle was locked up, so I had to borrow a key for the hatch. Everything was very neatly packed for trash, must have been real special trash. Mostly shredded paper. Weirdly there was a lot of broken shiny glass too, which gave me deja vu.
Finally I decided to check the cabin of the truck and found a ledger with buddy boy’s route, so naturally I figured that was a great lead and snagged it. I went back to LOSC to check up on the key project I gave Sammy and go over my finds.
Well gang, looks like I’ve seen yet another thing I shouldn’t have in my tireless pursuit to bring y’all an exciting Werewolf Wednesday Who am I kidding, I don’t even need an excuse to get up to trouble Hmm I hope my research wasn’t monitored. Well no use worrying now!
So about that strange door I found in the tunnels last time, I decided to try and figure out what building it was below- assuming that the two would be connected. I went back to the archives at HQ to see if Sammy could help me track down any docs I missed.
Took me a while but I measured my pace in the tunnels and lined my route up with a map of the City above, from what I could tell that door is somewhere beneath a big building downtown, crawling with security and little trace of its purpose other than “probably bureaucratic”.
Even the folks that work in the area seemed to have little idea what that place is, all I could find was one sign by a shipping entrance that read “Stronghand HQ Tower” something about that name stuck out as familiar but I can’t quite place it…
Checking the database for more information led to a few heavily redacted preview images with heavy security clearances and a link to “request clearance and schedule an archive visit” which confuses me because I thought I was working at like… THE archive for most things here.
I was tempted to bring Sammy on but I’d rather keep him out of this fishy business. Decided to just have him help me find a lock specialist in that area for that key I found so I have more of an alibi to be snooping around downtown.
back at it with Werewolf Wednesday and guess who scored some documents on the city infrastructure? Sooo… they were a bit hard to make heads or tails of, but they worked well enough as a map for my underground adventure.
Actually, regarding those documents, it seems they were partially redacted? Others were straight up missing passages and tunnels… at least I think? I figured with a place as built up and old as this there would be some errors in the documents but to be missing such big features…
Anyways, I found a bunch of cool stuff down there! I managed to find some old coins and broken jewelry, bottles, and even a set of keys! Returning those keys could be a second adventure. Also I met a few squatters that were pretty cool, we had some drinks It was a good time.
Wasn’t keeping great track of time but I spent hours down there. Once I figured it was getting dark topside I started planning my departure. I was trying to fit more exploration into my journey out by taking a different exit, when I found something unexpected.
There was an oddly blank portion on my makeshift map that I was passing by, in its place was a heavy duty steel door. Peeking between the cracks I could see it was dead-bolted in several places but I tested the handle anyhow.
WELL turns out there was someone waiting on the other side, probably some kind of guard… when I rattled that handle I gave them a start from what I could hear. Lucky I pressed up against the wall quick because a little peep hatch slid open… very sus, I’m def investigating further.
Bruh, they ACTUALLY forgot about me hahaha, everyone is way too busy dealing with the Monster Kingdom debacle. Unfortunately that means all my buds at LOSC are too busy to hook me up with another trip to the springs… Well whatever we shall have a Werewolf Wednesday yet!
Since I’ve been basically unsupervised I thought it was a good chance to check out the open air markets, and better yet the street food. You’d be surprised by what they’ll fry up and put on a stick. Ah one of my favorites was this nice wolf who was roasting wild game.
I decided to sneak off and get a better lay of the land so to say, and got to wandering the alleys and taking in the liminal life between the public and the private that’s missed by the usual tourist. I was kinda lost tbh so I decided to stop at a tiny cafe by the canals.
While enjoying my coffee and looking over the water I kept getting whiffs of something wet and dank. I decided to talk to the old owner fella and he mentioned that the storm drains and sewers have an outlet into the canals under the bridge near the shop.
I poked around under the bridge a little and I can’t help but be interested where that big tunnel leads… Well I’ve got nothing better to do and I’ve wised up and ‘borrowed’ some maps and documents on the city from HQ. Ya boi Klah is about to pick up a new spelunking hobby!
Well Sammy boy really did me a solid there, but fret not dear readers ya boi Klah is back in the saddle… well I don’t like horses actually but I’m back for Werewolf Wednesday regardless! I had to be pretty careful with what notes I chose to bring along with me.
I pretty much had to immediately take my report in once I got to the city, even jumping the normal chain of command. Hey it went well enough… nothing a little masterful deflection and playing dumb couldn’t fix. Anyways the higher ups are really at a loss of what to do right now!
Really they’re outraged at the impact these road closures are going to have on the economy, which is great because it keeps them distracted from what to do with me next. I even overheard them planning to make a plea to King Durr to reconsider the restrictions.
I should hope they pick someone better suited to be the emissary for that, I’d be sniffed out instantly among monster nobility. Well that’s neither here nor there! I’ve got some “Paid Time Off,” as it were and I intend to use it!
Now I can’t forget about y’all so I’ll make sure to find some time to update y’all, wonder where I should go first? AHH there’s so much I wanna do, here’s hoping they forget about me and my next assignment for a loooong time!
