[NR] Footnotes Or A Pelt - Chapter 769

Rosha nods, “Well. That is quite the story. Though I do have to ask, why hasn’t anyone heard it? Why hasn’t anyone been attacked by it? We literally just saw the thing in town.”

Old Liam shrugs, “Well, we’re a town. Oh sure, not the biggest place, but not like we’re ever alone out here. All those tales? They have one thing in common. Some lone person wrongs the critter and then vanishes. I actually find it kind of funny that we managed to copy the local story so closely! Most people don’t end up eating a tail.”

Courtney, “Okay, so what is it?”

Old Liam shrugs again, “I don’t know. I’m not an adventurer. You might have noticed a distinct lack of the creature being caught or even properly seen. Like, you guys? With your levels, you probably just got the best view of it anyone in town has managed so far.”

Rosha rubs the bridge of her nose, “How about some details? Is it always getting in through physical means or does it sometimes seem to cause locked-room scenarios? Have the stories ever included one with distinctive markings or injuries? Are they always black?”

Old Liam looks up at the sky and hums for a moment. “Well now, I guess that kind of thing might be important. Let me try from the top.

“They always seem fully physical. No ghosting around from the stories I’ve heard. A few sorts even managed to bar themselves in their cabins enough to avoid vanishing. Not that they survived as if they were out searching for food, it’s not like they have a stock back home. Also, their bodies tend to go missing, either taken if left alone long enough or their graves dug up.”

Jason, “Wait, isn’t cremation the standard? Necromancy is sort of a thing to look out for, even if you ignore the possibility of someone naturally rising.”

Old Liam shakes his head, “Too wasteful by half for a border town like this. The winters are cold so you need every cord of wood you can store. No one is using perfectly good wood to burn a body. Instead, we make sure to use proper, blessed graveyards.

“Though yeah, if you ever find an abandoned shack out in the woods? You might find the former inhabitant still around and unhappy with your very existence.”

Jason rolls his eyes, “Well that’s another series of fun stories to tell around a campfire. How about some more information on this tall tale of a beast?”

Old Liam nods, “So they’re solid, as I said. Beyond that, every one of them is described as black, but that doesn’t mean they’re all black black. Some of the stories emphasize it while others just include it as a side note. So I’m going to guess they’re shades of black. Also, I haven’t heard of any distinctive markings, except they all have a tail. Which I guess could either mean there are multiple of them out there. Or it actually does get its tail back.

“Well, I guess regeneration is possible? But once again, most critters that can regen a limb aren’t going to be too peeved about losing it.”

Courtney, “What if part of regrowing the tail is to gather most of the tail?”

Old Liam rolls his eyes, “Bah, half chance they never got a good look at it. The other half that they don’t bother reporting such things. It’s already a creepy sort of critter.

“But yeah, besides that? Lots of stories of it being hurt. None of one being killed. This is honestly the first time I’ve heard of one attacking somewhere with any decent number of folks around. So maybe it isn’t even that.”

Jason shrugs, “Would you know it was the same creature if the story just ended up being a footnote in someone’s journal and an interesting pelt on a wall?”

Old Liam laughs, “Well, you got me there! Though it also leaves the possibility that a dead one brings down some extra danger and is one of the causes for finding a flattened hut with no evidence of what happened.”

Jason, “Well, I guess we’ll just have to find out. Because I doubt a boogeyman-like critter is going to just peacefully fade into memory. And don’t depend on numbers saving you for too long. The town is still quite small. Give it time and I’m sure you’ll start losing people.”

So with that, the group make their way back over to Old Liam’s house.

Then the party reconvened at their room to plan how to handle this creature.

Jason looked between the other two, “So. This probably just got a lot more dangerous. For some reason, I doubt a tall-tale cryptid is going to be easy to handle. Irl, I’d say it was simply some sort of vindictive big cat. In here? Myths live and legends breath.”

Rosha, “Yeah, remember the intro sequence? A Phoenix and a Dragon fighting! Well, if they can exist, there are certainly smaller myths scrambling around.”

Jason snorts, “I’m more looking at the jackalopes as a good indicator that this thing isn’t normal. One tall tale to another and all that.”

Courtney, “Well, now that we have the actual story, I can research the creature. Maybe I’ll actually find something this time?”

Rosha nods, “It’s not in a rush, seemingly. If one more night is enough for it to massacre the town? Well, I doubt we could have done much, anyway.”

Jason, “I have to agree. As much as I’d like to clear up the mystery before night, the sun is too low for that.”

Courtney, “At the very least, we have more information to go off of now, even if I don’t find anything. I mean, we saw the creature itself. That has to count for something.”

Jason, “It counts for an embarrassing story if we don’t ever get another chance at it. The creature seems like one to prey on the weak and avoid the strong, so all we can hope is that it doesn’t run away before we get a proper chance at the thing. I’ll regret not trying to kick it if I don’t get another chance at the critter.”