As of 5/24/99
As told by Gilly de Angelosis, owner and barkeep of The Golden Caravan
Give ole Gilly a few moments to take care of me other guests an' I'll tell ye a bit 'bout the orcs.
Have some o'me miss' dragonberry pie an' I'll be 'round shortly to tell ye a tale or two 'bout the goblinkind.
So yer wantin' to know a wee bit 'bout the ole Tassarak, eh? Well, ye've come to the right place, me friend. Gilly's the name, an' information is me game. An' it's a right friendlier game than what those Tassarak play, let ole Gilly tell ye. Savage, they are; savage an' blood-thirsty. An' speakin' o'thirsty, here's a tankard o'ale fer ye. Five dagars if ye please an' thank ye. Now, back to the Tassarak. Sure ole Gilly's seen 'em, more times than I care to 'member. Some call 'em lizard men, an' if ye ever come face-to-the-face with one, ye'll know why that is.
They're somewhat human lookin' in appearance, 'cept fer their lizard-like heads; they've got themselves two arms an' two legs, just like ye an' me, 'cept they got this tail, see, stretchin' tree to fer feet at times. But that tail is 'bout half as long as they are tall, or me name ain't Gilly de Angelosis - no relation, mind ye. They're big, those Tassarak are; 'bout as big as a grizzly, an' darn near as dumb, if ye ask me. I've seen 'em with skin, or should I say scales, sorta dark green in a color, while others' seemed more gray or brown. But don't ask me if I was lookin' at a male Tassarak or a female Tassarak, cause I couldn't tell the diff'rence. Someone told ole Gilly once that ye had to get real close up like to tell the diff'rence. I said I wasn't that int'rested.
Now, from what ole Gilly has seen, there seems to be two kinds o'lizard men livin' here in Western Glashia. They both look alike, but their temper'ments seem to be a bit diff'rent. The first kind is the real mean an' nasty kind; the kind that'll go out o'their way to slaughter a caravan o'children, an' then leave half o'em behind just fer the scaly yucks o'it. This is the kind ye gotta keep a watchful eye out fer, 'pecially when travelin' through the Swamp o'Derras Knog. The place is filled with 'em, it is. Why, ole Gilly's heard rumors 'bout hordes o'the Tassarak headin' into Kinashae an' hittin' Fpathen villages every day fer months on end. They like human flesh, they do, but it seems that their pref'rence is fer the skin o'the elves. Makes yer stomach churn, don't it?
The Tassarak in Western Swamp ye've gotta watch out fer as well, but it seems like some o'em aren't as nasty as others. From what ole Gilly's seen an' heard 'bout the Westor Tassarak, there's two major tribes livin' in the swamp: the human flesh-eatin' an' caravan-jumpin' type, cousin to those in Derras Knog, an' a more - if ye pard'n me expression - civilized type that seem to mind their own business. Now don't get ole Gilly wrong, me friend. I'd stay as far away from these noble Tassarak as the next gent, but if I had me a choice as to which one I'd rather run in to, ole Gilly'd pick the nicer ones.
Either way, me friend, if ye happens to come 'cross yerself a Tassarak, try to 'member what ole Gilly's tellin' ye. First off, don't waste yer time tryin' to talk reason into the darn lizard, cause they don't understand what yer saying. They've got 'emselves a sorta language that's a bunch o'hissin' an' gruntin' an' groanin'. An' in all me years I haven't come 'cross anyone who can speak it, so I'm bettin' that you can't neither.
The second thing to 'member is that the Tassarak are a right bit stupid fer the most part an' can be distracted by a handful o'coins pretty darn easy. Found this out meself, ole Gilly did. Had to drop thirty gold crons 'fore the big lummox would leave me be, an' then another twenty fer his partner. Oh, an' that reminds me to tell ye that, when they fight, they're pretty stupid again. Not a lick o'organization, least what I could tell of it. But as soon as me an' me fellows out-numbered 'em, those Tassarak got to be more wily than a bunch o'maidens at a cloth sale.
A few more things fer ye to 'member before ye go: if ye come across some o'there eggs, don't eat 'em. They smell spoiled to begin with an' taste bitter to end with. Also, if yer hungrier than a vampire on a holy day, don't eat their flesh neither, though ye might want to consider makin' yerself some armor or a shield outta it. Works 'bout as good as scale mail from what ole Gilly's told. An' if ye do come across a few Tassarak an' are able to get yerself free, an' are able to make it back in one piece with a bit o'hide in hand, visit ole Gilly an' I just might buy it off ye fer a few gold crons an' a tankard o'ale - on the house!
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