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Catnipped

Tepic was idly carving his name into the wooden hull of the airship brig when one of the pirates brought it a surprise visitor. It was Beryl, though during the visit, it became clear to the lad that she was not quite… with it. In fact, it was almost like the time she had accidentally taken catnip.

It turned out that unlike himself, she was a guest on board, invited by none other than the red panda and was here to set up talks between the City and the pirates. Tepic was quite disappointed there was no present of a cake with a file in it, or just a cake, despite the food being more than good. Beryl told him that he would soon be out of the brig anyhow, as he was to be part of the team tasked with setting up the negotiations. It was then she let slip the name of the man who would be in charge of the team, and what they would have to do first…

It seemed Beryl had convinced Mr. Emerson, twice knighted, to strike the deal to save the City’s coffee supply, but first they had to prove their worth by completing three tasks for the pirates. It was going to be two tasks, but in her confused state Beryl had insisted there be three, the traditional number for any hero to undertake.

The first task was to fight a mosquito and bring back it’s eye, which did not sound too bad until it was explained this breed were the size of a small house and could drain you of blood in one strike. The second task was to bring the scale of a Rif Snake, though Tepic did not know what one looked like, how large it was or if they even had scales. The third task was explained to him as to find the Rif Hag and insult her to her face. He had no desire to be anywhere near that woman, and suspected the best place to insult her would be a deep, dark cellar at midnight, and even then it would be best to speak softly. However, thinking of Mr Emerson, it would be more likely he would end up marrying her by mistake.

All in all it looked like a rather ill thought out plan, even with Beryl’s opinion that it was a forgone conclusion for the New Babbagers. It also tied him to this venture, while others were tasked with finding the murderers of his friend Dibble.

In the course of their conversation Beryl explained she had been caught up in an explosion, hitting her head and being wounded with shrapnel. One of the city doctors had given her medicine, and it was this that was causing her confusion.

After that, a pirate returned and escorted Beryl out of the brig, leaving Tepic to ponder the news she had brought.

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