Peek: Birdbrain (Patreon)

Zorro tries to stay still under his invisibility illusion. He could try to watch from a shortcut, but the delver is strange enough that he wants to have a better look. There's no shortage of strange delvers, learning to think outside the box like the Alpha. But this one is... especially odd.

The halfling must be some variety of rogue or possibly ranger class, something that has advanced stealth and camo abilities. At first, Poe and Leo thought she was involved in another attempt to sneak into the fortress to grab the last key, but that theory was discarded not long after she was spotted. She's set up on the opposite side of the tree, and doesn't appear to be interested in the magma fortress at all.

The next concern was she may be some assassin hunting after a delver, but her outfit and demeanor is more like a scholar than a murderer. That, and her simple short sword as a weapon, make it unlikely she can stake out a delver and murder them at a distance, and her position is too remote for melee to be an option.

So Zorro has spent the last two days observing her as she observes. He's had a vine creep into her small hide, where she has a bed and some provisions, but it doesn't have anything relevant to report, either.

By all accounts, she's just... watching. Zorro's current working theory is she's some agent of the ODA, hoping to get more information on the denizens. Alpha Thedeim is happy to share, but the ODA are delvers, too, and like to get their information themselves, instead of simply being handed it at times.

But even that theory is looking shaky as the halfling pulls out a small spyglass and a notestone. Those items would usually confirm his theory, but what she's recording makes little sense to him.

"Hoppy has respawned," she says with a smile, the stone recording her voice. "There he goes, hopping along the branches as he watches the delvers. Ah, and there's Starry, out much earlier than usual. Have they spotted a party?" She adjust her spyglass as Zorro looks around, too.

"Hmm... I don't see anyone." She looks back to the two and chuckles as they start chasing each other through the branches. "Ah, they want to play. Such misunderstood creatures..." She shifts in her seat as the two continue to play, the halfling trying stay quiet, despite her excitement.

"I knew it. I knew it! All the other harpies show playfulness, but nobody believed me that the raven harpies would too! The lesser spawns do, so why wouldn't they?!" Her eyes widen as she realizes how loud she's getting, and covers her mouth with her hands as she looks around. Zorro and the vine remain undiscovered, but the possibility of being seen helps calm the halfling as she returns to her observation.

"Oh, they've spotted something. Off they go to do dungeon things, I suppose." She sits back and thinks for several minutes, before speaking into the stone again. "I have a lot of observations of them inside, but not much of them on expedition. Not that there's much observation of any harpies on expedition, mind. Will they be as playful outside? Or will they be busy with whatever enigmatic thing the dungeon needs?"

She taps the stone against her chin in thought before continuing. "Note to self: research harpy behavior when on expedition. If the raven harpies act like other harpies within a dungeon, they should behave similarly outside." She snorts in amusement before continuing. "With accommodation made for the oddness of their home dungeon, anyway."

Satisfied, she lays on her bedroll and stares upward, a smile on her face. "I'm close, I can feel it! Just a few more days, and I know I can advance into the Ornithologist class!"

Zorro has no idea what that means, but he can feel a pulse of amusement from the Alpha, and an inkling of his opinion on the odd delver. Apparently all of her class are considered strange, but harmless. Best to keep an eye on her still, but mostly to make sure she doesn't hurt herself.

He smiles as the halfling relaxes, and silently slips into a shortcut to continue his duties. He supposes he's not so dissimilar from the halfling, observing complex behavior without being noticed. It half makes him want to give some of the delvers their own names, but they already have them. No need to make his reports even more confusing than they already are.

Delver behavior can be much more incomprehensible than the raven harpies.