Another quiet night in the woods. Hax continued setting up the campsite while his boss was away.
"There," The kobold wiped his brow, "All finished." The camp was done being prepped up neatly as Hax took a seat on a small log. He and Timer had left Waterdeep not too long ago having to set up camp as night approached.
Hax's ears perked up. He took a look around. He thought it heard it come from one of Timer's bags. One of them had fallen off a set up table.
"That's weird." He mumbled. Hax got up, reaching towards the bag but the bag began to rumble. "AH!" He yelped jumping back. A book tumbled out of the bag and began shaking rapidly. Hax cowered behind the log he was just sitting on. A bright light enveloped the area as the book opened up. Hax closed his eyes. He had no idea what was going on. Did one of his boss's magical items suddenly activate? Was the even possible he pondered. After a few seconds he opened his eyes, cautiously peeking above the log to see what had just happened.
There sat a black and white cat adjusting its glasses looking a bit confused. The feline turned towards Hax with a smile. "Oh hey there. What's up?"
The kobold looked bewildered but spoke up in response, "Uhhh. A talking cat? Did you- were you in that book?!"
"A cat huh? I suppose that's not too surprising of a response," the feline responded casually. "The name's Merlin, er, well I suppose you can just call me Caster." He adjusted his glasses. "My apologies. I was trying to speak to Lumbral - er, right sorry. I suppose you would know him as Timer." Caster examined the spooked kobold top to bottom. "Would I be correct to assume you are one of his associates?"
Hax was still on guard but relaxed slightly, seeing that the cat was about his size. "Uh yeah. I guess, technically."
"Oh right. In regards to what you said earlier. Despite my appearance, I am tabaxi just like young Timer. And no," He laughed, "I was not residing in this book. I summoned myself, though, you could say."
Hax tilted his head. "Summoned?" He finally saw the tabaxi's two tails. "Wait. Are you like...?" He gestured towards Caster's tails.
"I am a close friend of Timer's. He usually contacts me if he needs assistance in regards to magical artifacts and the like. I do love helping my younger peers. He had tried to contact me earlier, though, I was preoccupied at the time and didn't notice until just recently."
Hax climbed over the log finally. "Oh sorry, he's um... somewhere. I was just setting up camp until he got back." The kobold was still inspecting the tabaxi in front of him now. The curiosity was apparent.
Caster remained smiling as he slightly tilted his head. "I'm supposing you don't know much about our kind do you?"
Hax flushed red. "Oh sorry! I-I didn't mean to offend." He rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly.
"No offense taken! Lumbral always did have a habit of being secretive. Perhaps I can educate you details about our kind?"
Hax was caught off guard by that question. He knew so little about his boss. He couldn't deny that he was curious but was always to afraid to ask. He stood quiet for a few moments, finally nodding his head silently.
"Very good! Take a seat." Caster adjusted his glasses. "Let's start with the obvious. Whether or not you have heard the stories of our kind, we are tabaxis, albeit, a different kind. If I were to give an example, consider yourself versus a red-scaled kobold. You are both still kobolds in that family tree but different branches. That being said, the single-tailed tabaxi vastly outnumber the two-tailed. For centuries, our kind have remained in isolation until, well, the last few years. With me so far?" Hax nodded. "Good, good. The clan I hail from is unique among the rest. The Familiar Clan. It is just as it sounds." Hax rose his hand. "Ah yes. Question?"
"Do you know if Mr. Timer is um..." He looked to his side slightly nervous, "A... you know." Caster tilted his head. "Full moon and stuff..."
"We all are," Caster responded casually. Hax gasped as Caster laughed. "We are all natural born lycanthropes. I suppose it would be better to clarify on that on the assumption you know little on that subject. There are generally two well known types. Afflicted and natural-born. Lycanthropy is a curse that can be spread through others by physical wounds imparted by one who possess it in their blood. Though, it can be cured by magic if done soon enough. Those who are infected and survive are know as afflicted werewolves, werecats, werebears, etc. Generally they lack the ability to control it but they themselves, generally, are not able to afflict others. They can, however, bear children who will carry the curse in them. These are known as natural-born lycanthropes and possess a greater innate ability to control their curse. These werebeasts can pass their curse among others through infection generally through biting. The ancestors of the two-tailed tabaxis at some point were infected. Our numbers were few to begin with to the point where the descendants were all lycanthropes. Hence, why history decided to deem us as 'monster cats'." "Fret not though, we are all trained at birth to control our lycanthropy. Aside from full-moon nights, we can transform whenever we'd like. Although my clan generally does not do so."
"Oh. I see!" Hax was deeply intrigued. "So Mr. Timer is-"
"He's among the more unique lycanthropes. Among them exists a rare breed of dire lycanthropy. Dire referring to an ancient sub-species of the werebeast. Much larger and much, much stronger than their brethren, generally possessing a much stronger bloodlust they must control. Not common knowledge, but the blood-red sclera are a dead giveaway. Though those descended from such beasts may not inherit that dire trait and be a regular variety. However, they will still be much larger than those not descended from them. In Timer's case, he's unique even among the dire kind as his transformation is much larger than what has been recorded before among our kind. He had never had an issue controlling it though. Then again, he was always a natural genius among our kind. So I suppose that's not too surprising."
"My, my. Merlin, chatty as usual," a voice came out in the distance among the trees. Timer walked slowly towards the two.
"Lumbral!" Caster floated upwards and circling Timer. "You should do better educating your associates. I see no reason to keep such common details about yourself secret. How are you expected to make friends with such an attitude?"
"Hmph." Timer continued walking.
"Mr. Timer! I-I'm sorry. I didn't... I wouldn't.." Hax stammered.
Timer lifted the kobold by the threat, pressing Hax's face to himself. "Such curiosity often ends with spilled blood. But I like you and it'd be such a shame..." Timer barely touching the kobold's forehead with his index claw of his free hand "if I had to crush your fragile skull." He released Hax who had gone pale white falling to the ground. "The fault is not your own in this case and I trust you can keep your mouth shut." He turned glaring at Caster who was laying back floating next to him.
Caster sighed shrugging. "I see you're still the same as ever." He was unfazed by his friend's demeanor. He floated down towards Hax casting Calm Emotions to the poor kobold. Hax took a breathe recovering from the shock. "Anyway, you had a request from me Lumbral? What information are you seeking today? I got 20 minutes left before I must de summon myself."
Timer sighed, "I need some info among some unique individuals."
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