Crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. I prepare the cutting surface.
I remember a portal.
Alena says we go our death. I say we go to our undeath. Alena says we go to our death. I say we go to our undeath.
BLACK. PUDDING.
The skull is like the SHELL of an OVUM.
I remember a brawl.
Alena will be back soon. No, that's not right. Is this a memory?
We discover a butcher, who is having a fight with a customer. A guard stands nearby and explains to us that we need to resolve the situation that the "Beast of Ath'Shana" has put them in, and then he will be allowed to accompany us. This is a dubious proposition, as he doesn't seem very competent. We discover a tunnel, and we go down it to a graveyard.
You crack the shell, and you pour out the yolk. The yolk is the creature, it's the part that you eat.
I remember a chicken.
Feathers get plucked. That's what makes the chicken smooth. That's what makes the flesh taste good.
John gets a key.
Why do I have this strange juice?
Disarticulation is an art. When a novice first begins, he is constantly feeling among the tendons and muscles and cartilage for the joint, the area between the bones. He has no conservation of movement. As he spends time learning his craft, his movements become more fluid. He can begin with a cut, and as he does so, the tearing of the flesh will guide him, tactilely, to his target. His output improves. He makes more money. After many years, he develops a preternatural sense of the creature's nature, its physical disposition. It is thus with a simple set of cuts that his work is done, as if unhampered by physical obstruction. He is now a master.
I remember a binding ritual.
The beast of Ath'Shana is willing to parley, and it seems we don't know as much as we did about The Kindred. The beast claims that he is kept there by their meddling. This opens up some uncomfortable questions for the group. We elect to regroup at the outpost and decide what to do next.
I remember a portal.
The exsanguination is complete, and there is a soft pop as the skull sheafs off of the spinal column. Alena's skull is light, airy. She couldn't have something dense and protective if she wanted to stay aloft. It's only a few bites to down the cranium. Crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside.