Chapter 8

The next morning, Vennoa and Tempest headed out of their rooms. Two other acolytes were apparently waiting for them, and they were soon escorted back to the main hall. It seemed that Seireri did not want them wandering around the temple.

As they approached, they could see three adventurers standing around Seireri. At least, they should be adventurers, since they looked nothing like priests. There was a man and a woman, both wearing hooded cloaks, and the third person was ... a turtle?

Vennoa blinked. No, her eyes were not playing tricks on her. There was a large bipedal turtle among them. It had two swords hanging from its belt. And it had a belt! Vennoa could only see the back of the turtle, and its shell looked slightly chipped at some places, and lines of cracks at other places.

“Will there be orcs?”

From the direction of the words, Vennoa guessed the turtle was speaking. She had never heard a turtle speak before.

“We don’t know,” Seireri answered in her calm voice. “We’ve heard of kobolds and goblins, but no orcs.”

“Hmpf,” the turtle grunted. “Orcs are vermin like kobolds and goblins. I’ll kill any that we come across.”

The hooded man stiffened, and pulled onto his hood a little more tightly. From her angle, Vennoa caught a glimpse of green on the man’s hands. Was he an orc?

Seireri looked up at Vennoa and Tempest, and said, “Good! You’re all here now.”

Vennoa and Tempest joined the circle of people around Seireri, and Vennoa couldn’t help but stare at the turtle. He (the voice had sounded deep) had a scarred face, but the scars were barely visible over the large wrinkles everywhere. The turtle was a deep green color, and looked like a regular turtle, only much bigger, and bipedal!

“Yes, have you seen enough?” the turtle snapped at Vennoa. “I’m Pua, a Tortle.”

“A ... turtle?” Tempest asked.

“A Tortle!” Pua replied angrily.

A big turtle then. Vennoa shrugged and didn’t say anything in return. She turned her attention to the man and woman. As she had suspected, the man had green skin. He looked like an orc — no, a half-orc. He had two sharp teeth sticking upwards out of his mouth, and looked pretty menacing with his height and stature. How had Pua not noticed the half-orc standing right beside him?

Vennoa glanced over at Pua again. Pua’s eyes were half-closed, and looked cloudy. Perhaps Pua just couldn’t see very well? What kind of adventurer could a half-blind turtle be?

The woman, who had been silent so far, spoke to Seireri, “Why are the kobolds and goblins attacking the farms?”

Vennoa turned, and saw that the woman was also a half-elf. She had some sort of musical instrument strapped to her back.

Seireri replied to the woman, “We don’t know. These creatures have always attacked the farms periodically, but never in these numbers, and never in such a coordinated manner.”

“Agate,” the woman said towards the man. “What do you think?”

The half-orc, Agate, shrugged and whispered something to the woman.

Noticing that Vennoa was watching, the woman smiled at Vennoa and said, “I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Fender, and this is my friend, Agate.”

Vennoa and Tempest nodded at them. Pua didn’t seem to notice that Agate was a half-orc.

“So what do you want us to do?” Tempest asked Seireri. He seemed much less interested in the other adventurers than Vennoa was.

“We need you to head to the farmlands and investigate. Find out what’s happening and report back to us,” Seireri said.

“What’s in it for us?” Vennoa asked.