RP:Of Crabmen and Contracts
Part of the A Line Drawn in the Sand Arc
Open Waters
The sea returns to a brilliant blue-green as the ship passes over the gulf and into truly open seas; the only things to see here are sky and water, and line of the four horizons. The gales that blow from the east become fiercer here, and the waves rise high, lifting and dropping the ship in stomach-lurching swells. It’d not be too wise to venture close to the ship’s rails, if you’re not an experienced sailor.
Kreekitaka was feeling really, really, really really really really really good about life. I mean, typically one feels super good about life when their plans start blossoming. And right now the uyeer's plans were spiraling open into Full Friggin' Springtime For Kreekitaka (which simultaneously is and isn't a reference to another thing). His shop in Frostmaw was about to go up. His shop in Larket was only days away from opening. He had investments being made in other businesses which would surely be paying off soon, -and- after checking in on his hometown he'd discovered that repairs to the palace were almost complete and the funds for a new housecrab or two were readily available. He could start traveling in style now--a full royal guard, maybe even a caster as support--just as soon as he got himself separated from Vindicator. And these were all reasons why Kree was feeling good, but right now they all paled in comparison to the feeling of absolutely owning the entire ocean. Riding on the back of a haekshnivekhnrn is an experience unlike anything else. The giant creature had a lot of mass, but a ton of surface area on its paddles and was able to get up to rather impressive speeds, and feeling the monstrous power in its muscles under your feet... well. The only creature larger than this was a kraken. ...hmmm.
Not this particular kraken, though, at this particular juncture…That’d be the kraken that was bobbing around in the waves all on his own, seeing that the mers he’d been talking to just moments ago had suddenly scattered like a school of nervous minnows in all directions. Not Mac. Of course, he already knew what was coming his way and even stuck as he was in bite-size (from a pliosaur’s POV) he exhibited not one iota of fear as the haekshnivekhnrn and its adrenaline fuelled passenger cut through the waves in his general direction. He’d even raise a webbed hand in greeting, for here was the very crabman he’d been seeking in Cenril’s business districts this past few days. Kree is, after all, not the only one with big plans, and plenty of motivation to get them rolling….
Kreekitaka sort of shot past Mac for a moment, because Kingmaker, as he'd dubbed the pliosaur, was a little bit like a train, as it in weighed rather more than a locomotive and could be as difficult as one to stop. Kree waved back with a claw, and the pair of them pivoted slowly around then cruised more easily back over to where Mac was drifting, eventually pulling his animal to a halt near him. "Hi, Mac," he called, waving a claw again and gesturing for him to climb on--in this case, onto Kree's scorpion-half. "I noTAH!iceDAH! you conversing wiHHHTH some mer before HHHTHey yefTAH!, how are HHHTHey faring?"
Mac said, “Conflicted.” He didn’t elaborate, being busy in that moment taking Kree up on his offer and clambering onto the indicated carapace. Nor he did elaborate once that task was achieved, but continued smoothly, “I was looking for thee, these past days. Instead, I didst find a friend of thine. The grey drowess.. “ Smiles don’t come all that easy for a creature born with a gigantic, parrot-like beak, so perhaps the smile on Mac’s face as he spoke was a little wooden, but something like fierce joy shone in that one green eye (the other of course shone with nothing). “.. who hast imparted to me information of a most important nature. Which hast led me to seek for thee even more earnestly, for I have a great boon to ask.” He glanced toward the pliosaur, his head canting that way, “But, first tell me, hast thy new playmate given thee any trouble?
Kreekitaka rumbled internally as he urged Kingmaker forward again once Mac had climbed on, and off they went, Kree determined to stop for nobody. Grey drowess--oh! Kree glanced over his shoulder, lowering his paddles and raising his eyestalks a little bit so as to more properly watch Mac back there. 360-degree vision is great. "Trouboh? he asked, thinking. "None HHHTHaTAH! I can HHHTHink of. ATAH! firss, perhaps. She was very harDAH! TAH!oo convince HHHTHaTAH! I was her frienDAH!." Afterwards, though... well, look! "A boon, you ask? You wanTAH! me TAH!oo finayee upgraDAH! your warDAH!robe?" he asked hopefully. The man was dressed in rags so often that it was really a tragedy. Someone as powerful as he shouldn't have to look the part of a beggarman. In fact, it was rather blatantly dishonest.
Mac was obviously in a rather unusual (for him) state of high spirits, and actually chuffed a rusty laugh at the mention of clothing. “I understand thou dost have some trade in such items,” he found the whole land-walker obsession with covering their bodies up even in warm weather amusing, but humoured the uyeer anyway, “Perhaps we may engage in trade for better garb, if mine dost appear unseemly. However, it is another sort of trade for which I have sought thee.” He’d let the matter flap in the breeze for the space of three beats, then said, “I wish to hire thine Uyeer guards. For which I will trade gold.” Another three beats passed before he appended, “A large .. pile. Of gold.”
Kreekitaka had already decided he was turning down for what and that the Kingmaker train had no brakes, but the mention of his underlings being hired as bodyguards for a considerable sum of money was something that demanded attention. He sent Kingmaker a command essentially telling her "find something to eat" and let her go on autopilot for a while. For his part, Kree gave more attention to Mac than he did the steering. "...How many guarDAH!s," he asked, "for how yong?" He doubted sincerely that he'd empty out his city, even for what had been dubbed a large -pile- of gold, but if it was just a few... this was an offer he couldn't refuse. "An' I'DAH! be wiying TAH!oo HHHTHrow in an ouTAH!fiTAH! for free, assuming HHHTHe pioh is as big as I imagine iTAH!." Are you sure you aren't part-dragon, Kree?
Mcracken truly had little notion of what the value of gold was in land-walker terms, having no previous need to ever seek such information. However, he surmised that a large pile of the metal was a most desirous thing, seeing that the dry-world denizens would murder each other over even small amounts. “It is.. large, this assure thee. But I do not wish thy Guards to… guard. I wish them to smash stone and build with it a wall. And given the location of the best stone for this task, I couldst think of none better than thy people to accomplish it.” He butted in to his own conversation string with, “Ah, thou hast indeed befriended this beast.. “ No-one could properly use the term ‘tamed’ or ‘gentled’ when it came to haekshnivekhnrns… being its friend and not its next meal was an achievement indeed, and the kraken’s tone would reflect a sense of admiration.
Kreekitaka didn't actually have a whole lot to say to all this. A large pile of gold was a good thing, and he was certain he could equip his people with mining equipment. Trying to steer the conversation back towards the task his people would be hired for, he asked, "WhaTAH! kinDAH! of wa--wah--" he paused, thinking up a synonym. "--barrier? Where is HHHTHe sTAH!one? May I ask why?"
Mac’s air of joviality fell away at the Uyeer’s last question, “The curse…” he replied, his brows lowering, “A barrier at sea, far enough from the castle to prevent any creature swimming close enough to be touched by its foulness.” The matter of approach by land had been addressed by Cenril’s land-walker population after the unfortunate incident with the green-skinned woman not long ago, so this was nor mentioned. “For which is needed two types of stone.. one sturdy enough to stand up to the waves, the other porous enough to admit water flow, to ease the pressure. The locations I will show thee, in due time. It is like to be a very large wall, for the waters are deep in places, and it must have sufficient height to prevent the passage of vessels as well as sea-life.”
Kreekitaka considered that. That was one seriously heavy project. He'd need more than just a few uyeer for that, and it would take weeks... Well. This was no longer simply a few bodyguards for a friend and a pile of gold. This was now a legitimate business venture and Kree seemed to settle into a more serious frame of mind. "HHHTHaTAH! is an unDAH!erTAH!aking which is yikeyee TAH!oo TAH!ake an immense amounTAH! of work an' TAH!ime. I have no wish TAH!oo empTAH!ee my enTAH!ire ciTAH!ee for one TAH!ask, an' cause every oHHHTHer pyan of mine TAH!oo freeze in HHHTHe process. So as much as I wish TAH!oo simpyee TAH!ake you aTAH! your worDAH!, I mus' ask TAH!oo see HHHTHe pioh before I make any DAH!ecisions." Before, Kree had seen it as something of a gift, and you don't check a gift-trilobite for mites. (Well, at least not in front of the person giving it to you.) Now it seemed like actual payment for services rendered, and Kree felt no desire to be undersold.
Mcracken had expected as much, for while he was not conversant in land-walker currency exchange, his did understand the nature of transaction in general. “If thou wouldst follow, I will lead thee to its location. But given its position be on land, thy.. friend.. “ he gestured toward the pliosaur again, “May be best replaced with several staunch Uyeer. And some manner of.. cartage, with which to haul it up and away. Once thou hast this in order, I will meet thee on the beach of Selen Island.”
Kreekitaka grunted a little--that wasn't what he'd asked. "Firs', may I jus' see iTAH!.? I suspecTAH! Kingmaker can geTAH! us HHHTHere quickyee, an' Io have her waiTAH! nearby." He turned his attention back toward the huge pliosaur, without waiting for Mac's consent, and sent it a message--not an apology, not a command, but a suggestion. He'd learned that once the haekshnivekhnrn was on the prowl for something to eat, it wasn't to be so easily turned away from the hunt. The suggestion went something like the following: "Try the reefs around the island over that way, you might find something good preying on the minnows there." Having had no luck so far and being at least bright enough to recognize that a suggestion meant Kree wanted to go someplace in particular, Kingmaker made some kind of infrasonic rumbling noise and started turning toward the island.
Mac nodded to the request, not that anyone was waiting for his permission.. As this strange assortment of sea-critters approached the reef encompassing the island’s murky and mangrove-festooned foreshore, the kraken tapped lightly on Kreekitaka’s shell, “Canst thy people climb?” An odd question but necessary in this circumstance if in no other, ever, in Mac’s long experience. “For if not, then mayhap a view from a distance must suffice.” They’d broached the coral atoll by then, with the mountainous island rising like a great, shaggy green beast from the shallows beyond.
Kreekitaka made a face. Climbing. Why did it have to be climbing. "WhaTAH! sorTAH! of cyimbing," he asked, hesitantly. "I have reacheDAH! HHHTHe heighTAH!s of Fros'maw before, HHHTHough I haDAH! ice which I cooDAH! jam my yegs inTAH!oo HHHTHere. I can DAH!oo noHHHTHing wiHHHTH goaDAH! I cannoTAH! reach, you reohyize." This was becoming a more and more problematic deal.
Mcracken shook his head, that rare smile widening as he spoke, “It is a stout chain that must be climbed, but no matter if thou canst not reach the treasure immediately. Thou wilt be able to see and verify its existence.. as thou didst ask. Retrieval.. thou mayest leave that to me, for the seaborn have among their kind those more fit for such a task.” And really, said the silence to follow, Kree would just have to trust that Mac would conduct business in an honest manner. Not exactly an ideal situation for the Uyeer, but then… it wasn’t meant to be.
Kreekitaka considered that. He -might- be able to haul himself up a chain. Depended on exactly how stout the chain was. Kree flexed Vindicator's huge foretalons and clicked his claws as if testing all of them. "YeTAH! us see HHHTHis chain," he said, slowly releasing Kingmaker and sending it a quick message of "I'll be right back, try to stay in the general area so we can go hunting together right after this," and then took off on his own, swimming towards the island with Mac on his back.
Swampy Trail, Selen Island
The ground becomes wet again to the north of the mangroves, though this time via some as yet undiscovered source of fresh water. A narrow trail, in parts overgrown and in others submerged in mud, leads uphill and northward through what looks like heavy jungle at the foot of the mountain, and branches off to the west, where corpse-candles and will-o-the-wisps flicker over algae-greened waters in the dim light provided by the dense canopy of swamp-oaks and bog cyprus. Other lights shine from the dark; fireflies, and the eerie gleam of slitted, yellow eyes.
Once the Vindicator’s eight feet hit sand, Mac directed Kreekitaka past the shore, and uphill to a boggy trail, where jungle-plants replaced the mangroves and overhead the sky was no longer blue but the deep, impenetrable green of the canopy. “So…” Mac said casually, as they progressed along the path which was in places severely overgrown due to lack of use, at least by anything as large as Kree. “…tell me, Uyeer— why am I need of ..” What was the term he’d used? “An upgrade? Dost my garb offend?” He glanced down to the raggedy collection of items he wore. Yep, it covered all the parts that made female land-walkers scream and flail (or, in some cases, giggle and ogle) when he waded out of the ocean Mac really couldn’t see the problem.
Kreekitaka perked up a little. Trudging through all sorts of undergrowth actually wasn't that big a problem--Vindicator's foretalons came in handy as a sort of weed-whacker attachment--and anything stout enough to resist the claw was given the stinger a few times until it relented. It was mindless physical work and Vindicator did most of it, allowing Kree to use his brain for things like critiquing Mac's style. "ITAH! is... unbecoming," he said, after a short pause. "Someone who speaks as eyoquenTAH!yee as you--I conTAH!inue TAH!oo DAH!esire your yanguage--an' who has such a hoarDAH! of treasure, an' who has such granDAH! pyans, oughTAH! TAH!oo yook yike someone as granDAH! as HHHTHey are. TAH!oo wear someHHHTHing founDAH! onyee on HHHTHose wiHHHTH no money or power or pyace TAH!oo sTAH!ay or frienDAH!s is projecTAH!ing HHHTHe wrong image. One shooDAH! be honesTAH! in HHHTHeir aTAH!ire, so as noTAH! TAH!oo DAH!ecieve HHHTHose aroun' you." Look at you go, Kree, combining a sales pitch with flattery with a moral argument. Quite the chain of logic you have there.
Mac’s response to all that was somewhat delayed, for the notion was as alien to him as dry air itself. Finally, he said, “I will bow to thy greater knowledge regarding land-walker customs, Uyeer. I woulst only ask that this updated garb not be too conspic….HALT!” Kree had betterwanna halt, at that point, for they’d reached a treacherous leg of the trail, where quicksand waited to gulp the pair down into the island’s insatiable underbelly, never to be seen again..
Quicksand Pools
Whether a path runs between the silted wellheads cannot be determined at just a glance, for the glistening films flounced in thick soup within trench and crater seem to ripple out across the entire landscape. The excess of water and lack of porous rock below, matched with an absence of thick root about which soil might cling, has allowed the formation of these bowls and gashes; filled to brim with viscous broth, with their pupils of bone and irises of fallen leaf from the boughs flanking the clearing. Some bear lids of debris across their jaundiced lenses, their lashes the pathetic blades of sickly plants that manage to latch to the bare strips of ground that are more understanding of desire for solidity. A route might be picked by following these scattered weeds through the quicksand pools, if one is observant enough.
Unless tragedy ensued, Mac would slide down off the Vindicator’s back and take to traversing the path under his own steam. Careful, slow steps took him a little further along, aided by the kraken’s ultrasonic abilities, which helped him discern patches of firm land from sucking pools of sandy death. “Follow,” he said, “Thy paces, placed precisely where mine go.”
Kreekitaka just sort of looked at Mac like he was completely off his rocker, then looked around at the pools, then back at Mac. "How." It wasn't a question, it was a flat statement of utter and complete impossibility. Kree reached out with his foretalons--useful things, these--and tested the earth in front of him for safety. Any space that was more quicksand than earth, he spent a moment to prepare himself for and then just bulldozed through it entirely unsubtly, using his uyeer-claws and foretalons and tail to haul himself back up out of it. It wasn't the cleanest of methods, and surely Mac made it to the other side first, but there was no way Kree was going to allow such a thing as a puddle in the mud drown him. #yolo #benefitsofsizecategoryHuge #checkedprivilege
Yawning Mouth
To call the entrance, or exit depending on direction, to the cavern a mouth is only apt and fitting, the gullet of shadow beyond the slanted fall of sunlight trailing into a stone venter. Teeth fall in jagged rows from the lips of lichen that linger around the edge of the cave entrance, the gums of limestone forced to sprout the gravity-defiant stalactites over the millenia that water from the mountain above had woven through the stone. The breath of the land whistles and howls from the terraneous diaphragm suspended deep in the marrow of the rock, though whether the wind that courses in stagnant bursts from within is simply circulated and exhumed or from a source upon the other side of the network could not be gauged by those not having had explored the place. Soon the light becomes shadow, the soil becomes stone, time loses meaning and the arteries of the world swallow any that slip between their callous veins. It would be wise to bring a source of light, should one not have great vision in the dark.
On the other side of that death-trap, where bog gave way to terra firma and clean water pooled from a spring, Mac gestured to where the path veered sharply to the north. “The cache is not far now,” which was probably welcome news to Kreekitaka. Ahead was a gloomy cavern-mouth, into which the kraken would soon after vanish. His voice would come from that darkness, faintly haunted with an echo, “Ware! For here there be…” Monsters? More slurping deathtraps? The final word of that warning was obscured by an almost deafening cacophony, a tremendous whirring sound punctuated by an eerie, high pitched wave of accompanying auditory chaos. A thronging, innumerable cloud of creatures came streaming from the cave in blind panic. Bats, then. That last word was obviously meant to be… ‘bats’.
Kreekitaka ducked low to follow and got a mouthful of bat. Or at least a facial-crusher-ful. The appendages sort of instinctively closed around the creature in his face for a second as he shuffled backward, tail arcing up, claws flailing. Someone as big as he is wasn't ablt to just duck or dodge out of the way this time, and so he got the full brunt of the wave of bats. Vindicator let out a loud hissing noise--which was likely still drowned out by the bats--and it was very likely that Kree wasn't going anywhere in there until they stopped flowing. Managed to try a few bats, though. They actually weren't too bad, most of them. The bigger ones were tastier.
Meanwhile, Mac was standing at the lip of a large natural well not too far from the tunnel entrance – fortunately for Kree, whose present chimeraic form, bulky as it is, would have made any further venture along the murkish tunnel that lay beyond the cavern’s maw almost impossible. “Thy gold be down here,” said the kraken, trusting that Kree would hear that clearly now all the bats had flown away. Well, most of ‘em… The hole was wide, and Mac kicked a thick chain fastened to a rock by an even thicker iron ring, the rest of the linkage dangling down into inky darkness. Mac peered into this ominous hole, glancing around to the Uyeer after, “Canst thou see?” To the kraken, the glint of yellow metal at the well’s nadir was obvious.
Kreekitaka leaned out over the edge and peered down into the hole. It was difficult to see--partially from the regular darkness and partially because things down there just didn't seem to look right--but eventually his eyes adjusted and he caught sight of what appeared to be a large barrel filled to the brim and overflowing with gold pieces. That was... quite a sum. A rough estimation given the size of the barrel--if it was as far away as it looked--brought the total value of the thing far into the "we can do that yes" range. There was a pause while Kree went slightly rigid, staring hard at it, and eventually the wheels in his head started turning again. "ITAH! is... quiTAH! HHHTHe treasure," he said, quietly, "however I conTAH!inue TAH!oo picture HHHTHe barrier you wish us TAH!oo consrucTAH! an' iTAH! remains a coyossoh job. -Mus'- iTAH! be mayDAH! of sTAH!one, or can I have my peepo make an arTAH!ificioh reef TAH!oo prevenTAH! entry? A biTAH! of magic can make iTAH! go up far quicker." And of course it wouldn't be your normal reef--specially-bred barrier coral was pretty good at wall-making.
Mac’s dark brows loomed downward for an instant, “There be a sound reason for my requirements… “ He raked webby fingers through his beard, as though reluctant to say what that reason was, but he soon went on, “I will offer thee gold in addition to this treasure, if thou canst fulfil two criteria. The first being that thou dost make at least.. half.. the wall of the stone I mentioned. The other being, that thou dost not ask why it must be so. Whatever thou dost use to make the rest is agreeable, as long thou canst swear it is hardy for the purpose.”
Kreekitaka nodded. That was certainly doable. The coral would help provide a foundation and help seal up the deeper parts, and the top part could be the stone. Kree himself could help out--maybe convince Kingmaker to use her vast musculature to help carry some of the stone--he could see it. "Assuming my workers reTAH!ain HHHTHeir own yives an' yiveyeehooDAH!s, an' assuming my DAH!irecTAH! assisTAH!ance aTAH! yeasTAH! some of HHHTHe TAH!ime, an' assuming magiCAH!oh hepp wiHHHTH mining... I give iTAH! aroun' a monHHHTH." Walls are big things and Kree does not have as many people as he likes to think he does.
The kraken frowned again, “A half-month. And I will myself seek workers to aid with the building. But the getting of the stone must be trusted only to thine own people, whose silence I must assume regarding that task is as well paid for as thine own.” Seems Kree isn’t the only wheelin’ dealin’ bargain maker on the island. “For it is special stone indeed, and I wouldst not have it made it off with by opportunists.”
Kreekitaka would have blinked had he eyelids. Two weeks? He rumbled internally with the calculations and started slowly backing back out of the cave, gesturing for Mac to follow. He was getting claustrophobic in here. "Am I TAH!oo assume, HHHTHen, HHHTHaTAH! you onyee wish my workers TAH!oo retrieve your rock for you, or HHHTHaTAH! you wish HHHTHem workeDAH! TAH!oo DAH!eaHHHTH? HHHTHere are some HHHTHings which are simpyee impossiboh, Mac... if your workers are quick an' strong, I can see HHHTHree weeks, an' HHHTHaTAH! is if everyHHHTHing goes smooHHHTHyee."
Mac’s mouth-corners tugged up, and he said, as he followed the Uyeer out of the cavern, “The getting of the stone, then, shalt be their primary task. Mayhap then it be best I allow you to be paymaster, with thine own people receiving the shark’s share of the gold for their silence and hard labour, and the rest going to the seaborn, who will aid thee. For it happens that a prominent merman doth lately owe us both a boon, for returning to him his sole female spawn. And with that debt, and the fact thou art too a sea-people, I see no reason why Laotis wouldst refuse to aid thee in this task.” Exiting the cave, he stepped over the scant and mangled remnants of several leather-winged mammals. “It is also likely that he will, as a matter of pride, refuse payment.”
Kreekitaka nodded. This was acceptable. More than acceptable, in fact. Although there was one teensy little thing more he needed, and he voiced this concern as they turned to go back to the ocean where Kingmaker was waiting. "Marveyous. Now--I know you wanTAH! no questions, however I feeoh yike I mus' know HHHTHis much--are HHHTHere any DAH!angers TAH!oo hanDAH!ying HHHTHis rock? Am I puTAH!ing my peepo aTAH! some kin' of risk by TAH!aking HHHTHis job?" After all, if it was a special stone designed to keep people away from it, he'd need to know how to treat it safely in order to properly extract and move it.
Mac moved ahead of Kree, as they would soon be approaching the boggy sands they’d crossed earlier, turning back to reply as he reached the edge of the quicksand pools, “If thy people keep to the specific places I will show thee, cut stone from no other, and mine only so far into the rock as I say is most safe, then thou hast my solemn vow, by the Great Mother of Oceans, that none shall come to harm by it.” Then he was crossing that treacherous stretch again, his bare feet caked in previously churned sandy silt by the time he reached the other side.
The kraken said, as he waited for Kree to follow, "For a creature paid to ask nothing, thy questions are numerous." Said with a certain air of humour; however, the inflection implied that no more answers would be forthcoming than had been given.
Kreekitaka was not reassured by this, though he was also intrigued. "I see. I can accepTAH! HHHTHis, I suppose." If the stone -was- dangerous, he needed to have someone analyze it. Because, perhaps unbeknownst to Mac, Kree was -absolutely- an opportunist. But of course he couldn't just out and -say- that. Take the gold, do the job, sneak a brick home, ship it to Muzo, have him explain what it's made of and what it does. If it's really that special, then it was time for a survey expedition to find more of it, preferably deposits Mac was unaware of. He went through the bog in much the same way as he did before--brute-forcing it.
Kreekitaka asked one solitary single question about the stone, which was exactly what he was being paid not to ask questions about, and voiced this opinion.
Mcracken actually grinned, which made his face ache a little, for it was not overly familiar with such use. “Then we hath reached an understanding, Uyeer. And all hath come to balance.” It was a formal and traditional reply, an ancient custom from long dead aeons ago, but still the way he said it would somehow communicate the absolutely binding nature of their pact. They were almost at the beach, and Mac took a moment to glance up the island’s single monumental peak, “I remembered just now a song about this place.”
Kreekitaka would have to remember that sealing for another time. It had a nice ring to it. And certainly he'd try to hold up his end of the bargain--he'd be really dumb to do otherwise, it'd prevent future transactions from taking place--so whatever air of finality it had to it simply served to tell Kree that the gold was as good as his. "Oh?" he asked, glancing back toward the mountain's peak, following Mac's eyes. "As granDAH! a sTAH!ory as HHHTHe oHHHTHer song you sang?"
Mcracken nodded, “And as tragic, though how much is true and how much fable is uncertain—even for a creature as ancient as I, the tale is old and strange.. I will sing it to thee, next time we meet, for at present I am bound to haste away, thou understand, with much to do.” Laotis’ tribe wasn’t all that far from these shores, in kraken terms anyway, so Mac figured he may as well get that part of this wall-building venture organised. “But on the morrow, mayhap, we might meet so I canst show thee where to mine?”
Kreekitaka nodded understandingly. Tales well-told could take some time to spin. "Aye, I yook forwarDAH! TAH!oo iTAH!. You know where my payace is, yes?"
Mcracken shook his head to the negative. "Only that thou art a merchant."
Kreekitaka nodded and harrumphed a little, thinking. Just a merchant? Was he in for a surprise. "Is yocaTAH!ing Kingmaker easy? I yive in HHHTHe biggesTAH! sructure near her. OHHHTHerwise, I suggesTAH! we meeTAH! here on HHHTHis beach TAH!omorrow an' go from HHHTHere."
Mcracken said, “I wouldst be pleased and honored to visit thy home, and shall have no trouble locating…” he gave Kree a rather amused look, before he spoke it“.. Kingmaker.” He wouldn’t allow himself to either chuckle or muse too greatly over the creature’s newly given name.. not until he was long out to sea, at least. “Until then, fare thee well, Uyeer!"