[A huge orcish trukk, drawn by two massive bears, rattled to a stop. Borky remembered the leader of the Iron Claws as Lubso. When this orc lumbered out of the covered wagon, the wheels actually tilted, sinking into dirt when he shifted his incredible girth. He was absolutely enormous, maybe even as big as Slasha but he was a bit lacking in much brainpower, except to hit things. Plenty of dakka but no gears in the clocka, Borky recalled.]

[Gruul leaned in conspiratorially, putting a big, beefy arm around his shoulders. “Audrey told me that what I thought was happening when I met you lot, was not happening at all.” The warchief looked appropriately bewildered at this admission. “I thought she and Remy—but she told me no. Though, to be fair, she wasn’t sure what was goin on between you and Remy—“

Oh, for—this again. “Gruu-uul,” Greckles groaned, exasperated. “I just got here!”]

[The Blood Axes were all trying to paint their wagons red, believing that might improve the speed. That seemed like a logical enough idea to the rest that someone went and bought enough red paint to coat the wall around Tent Town. Still others mounted their wagons with spikes and streamers (often both). One wagon (the Dawn-Brawlers) had several antlers mounted to the beams and wheel spokes, sticking out into the air like rotating spike arms.]

[Borky being a Warboss always threw a wrench in things, the rogue pondered. Orcs, like kobolds, followed strength. And honestly, among his own kin, Borky lacked the raw power that some of them had. But he made up for it in cunning. Though, Greckles had never really seen him in full Warboss mode. It was quieter than he’d expected, sort of reminded him of Gruul Hellhorn, now that he thought about it.]

[The warboss just shook his head. “Got things I gotta do here, Rem.”

Remy floundered awkwardly for a moment. It was strange, seeing Borky so solemn. The only time that compared was when the orc had spoken to him before he’d fought Agranak, and had been uncertain if he could beat the warchief. So Remy said simply, “Ah, of course, Borky.”]

[Borky sighed and rubbed his brow. “What d’you know about G’nash?”

Mister Borpington perked. “Oh! I know plenty about ganache! It is a smooth, thick chocolate with cream. You can use it in all sorts of delicious desserts! Why do you need to know about ganache?”

Borky stared at him, trying to parse out what he’d just heard. “Whut?”]

The Hands We're Dealt | Part 01

I could not get this idea out of my brain. It kept coming back, wanted to write about Borky more and bring back some of the folks i made up from the first piece I did. So I finally wrote some down. (I listen on the podcast. I haven't even started Campaign two yet.)

[The taller orc straightened. “Warboss, I’m Toknag, second son of Yuthi and Ursine. This one is my younger brother, Rathnak. We heard there was a Warboss here who defeated Agranak, the champion of G'nash of the Blood Axes, at the Mountain of Repetition."

"That's me, yeah, Warboss Borky of Alivast," Borky agreed.]

I managed to finish the short story I wrote about Remy’s dad.

--------

Pandion also sat at the table. The fatherly kenku seemed insatiably curious about Remy’s friends, as if to make up for his absence, and said: “I have heard that you know others among the Gryphon Riders?”

Task very proudly told him about Winter and her place among the riders. “She’s tough, quick, silent as an owl and perfect aim. And her gryphon is small but definitely the fastest among them.”

“That’s how you know he’s smitten,” Borky told the table. “Task wants to fight next to her, so he’s got her traits pinned.”

Aria startled, clearly not expecting those words. "I, ah, yeah, it has? Uh, are you all right?" She eyed the elder kenku man, unable to help bringing up the last mental image of her father. Surrounded by fire, screaming citizens, smoke and blood, with two crossbow bolts sticking out of him. Similar eyes. But she erred to politeness. "Is this a guest...?"

The ragged man staggered, almost taking a knee. "Oh, Aria, my clever little mischief-feather. Do you remember, I used to call you that?"

Aria stopped still, staring at him. His voice...

[Something called an Abyssal Chicken pushed the bags out for the larger demon to hand over. Borky saw their eyeless faces and clawed little feet, clinging to the edge of the leather bags. Zilo exchanged the money for them and they brought everything back. Borky threw his hands to the ceiling. "Their whole heads opened up! What part of it is the chicken?!"]

[“Never before, in all my time, have I ever had two mortals come to me with the same regret. Many are similar, of course, because mortals often fall into the same traps of vice and love. But I have never seen two that were the same that didn’t already know of the other’s presence. And so now, I am very curious to find you here.”

The head swiveled around to Remy. “When you came upon my broken mirror, boy, what were you looking for?”]

[“Is your Captain going to be all right?” Remy asked quietly, eyeing the minotaur and noticing several lines of scarring all down his thick left arm.

Zilo sighed, glanced at them as he opened the back door to lead them out. “He’s gonna be a mess. He worries a lot, like everyone’s grandfather, you know? He is a good man—but he’s very cautious, a good foil to people like me. Max and Atat’la have been wanting to leave since you all arrived.”]

The great multi-planar hub, the City of Sigil, also the City of Secrets/Doors [Each slot had a narrow pamphlet with information about different restaurants and attractions in the city ('Annual Autumn Cheese Event! Multi-planar Cheese of Death Competition! Must Register by Midsummer!'), as well as guides on how to get along with the locals ('No Gods Allowed: How Worship of the Lady Can Lead to Your Skin Being Flayed Off'). There was also the very direct 'Get Along or Else', which had a shadowy image of a robed woman surrounded by swords, looming over a city street.]

[Kenlo laughed a little. “Yes, this being a multi-planar hub where no one can kill, means that there are all kinds of strange and new things here. If you are curious about food, make sure you visit Imel’s Happy Tongue. They feature food from most all the planes. Every year, they do a big cheese tasting event.”

Borky stiffened and whirled around to the war priestess. “Cheese event!?”

“Oh yes!” Kenlo said eagerly. “They even have Death Cheese, from Cormyr! A delicacy, if you are into cheese.”]

[Nazsha’s dark eyes were hard, serious and glittering as she went on, quietly, intensely: “You could be a leader one day that inspires others to fight for him. You won’t havta use fear like the chief does. You won’t have to rely on brutality. But you won’t get to do that here, you understand?”

Borky’s gaze flickered down. “If something happens to the chief, I might get killed by one of my brothers.”]

[The creature made an atrocious scream, but it only shambled forward about ten feet before it threw its long arm. It whipped out like a rope, stabbing deep into Task’s chest, sending his bow flipping away from him. The kobold yelped and was jerked off his feet, streaking towards the creature.“ HEY! That’s OUR baby dragon!” Borky roared and took off at a sprint.]