#dreaming

"Why would you? Think you know me, young wizard?"

"I .. no, clearly I don't" Zane admits "but.." A smile "what I do learn shows you're kind of cool "

"Well. We'll see how you feel after slogging through the muck." Indeed - she takes off her shoes to place them in her pack.

'Ugh.." says "Wait, the TROD here is mucky?"

"It's not always silver brick roads, Apprentice" Earl says

"ugh, you sound like Mountain Emmit, Sir Earl" Zane says as he moves his hooves through the silver muck

Earl blinks as if he just walked into a branch at that comment

"I suppose we all have our mountain moments."

Zane mimes tapping out a pipe "Well now, " he says immitating Emmit's voice .. pretty well, and definitely the mannerisms "You make it sound like passing gas, young lady"

Nose-wrinkle.

"How uncouth."

"Oh come on, that was a dead on target impersonation" Zane protests

"It was quite well done, yes."

Earl keeps a staight face "adequate, quite adequate"

Zane sighs as they move through the argent trail of mush "Gonna be a looong quest"

"Such is the nature of things. And yet, this is still preferable than running to Emmit to mend it."

Zane winces "yeah."

They are definitely in the swamps, the squishy trod keeps them safe, but Zara notes that some 'logs' look like they might be alligators laying in wait

Zara does not mind the marsh one bit - they might not be deep enough for her to have grown webbing yet, but sluagh have amphibious roots.

Earl's got long legs and what's up to the knee caps for the satyr is really more like the troll's ankles

But Zane keeps his disgust to his face only.

rather than verbally bitching

A large Venus fly trap with lips calls over "Feed me, and I'll sing for you pretty"

"Nay, you do not tempt."

"How pretty?" Zane says

Earl grabs him along "No. Have you never seen Little shop of horrors?"

"Be mindful, many traps off the silver."

"I was just going to listen" He protests "And maybe lob some jerky. Oh. I brought jerky"

"Ah..."

"If you have a holocaust cloak, tell us" Earl says firmly

"Thou art the giant, Earl."

Earl smiles at that

They move along and Zane winces as they see a horse dying in the muck.. "Oh come on.." It's off the trod "yes. I know it's a trick and now I wish I never watched Neverending story"

"Aye, but..."

"But?" Zane says "I think it's a kelpie, nnot a horse... if I try to help it, it will eat me"

Sigh.

"I know. But."

"But?" Zane says

"Artax."

"Yeah" A sigh

Earl says "if 'ts a Kelpie then it's ..not really drowning is it?"

"True."

She kens, just in case.

It does have , if she looks carefully, no sign of true hooves.. slight fins. It might have gills under the neck fur but it's trying to hide that. The glamour is born of nightmares of luring men in with tehir own hubris to master the wild, their greed to own a horse, and then dragged them down

A nod. "Aye. Kelpie."

Yet she feels a kinship. It doesn't just do this to feed. It punishes pride and avarice. A harsh teacher, but still.

Zane frowns "Should we curse it so it has trouble hunting?"

"No! It has its place in the Dreaming."

"We shall avoid its snare, and leave it be."