Innverse Stats

Name	Text
Erin Solstice	Erin woke up with her back against the inn’s front door. Her neck was aching, and her hand was burning. It was morning.
Erin Solstice	Where was it? Erin hobbled over to a table. There. Two daggers on the tabletop. She looked around at the windows—some even had furniture piled up to make sure nothing could get in. And she’d been up all night, waiting to hear anything trying to come in. But no other Goblins had, and the other one had left its dagger as well, albeit unwillingly. Erin mumbled to herself as she poked one of the hilts with a finger.
Erin Solstice	Where was it? Erin hobbled over to a table. There. Two daggers on the tabletop. She looked around at the windows—some even had furniture piled up to make sure nothing could get in. And she’d been up all night, waiting to hear anything trying to come in. But no other Goblins had, and the other one had left its dagger as well, albeit unwillingly. Erin mumbled to herself as she poked one of the hilts with a finger.
Erin Solstice	At least it proved she hadn’t been dreaming. Well, until she’d fallen asleep. But nothing had killed her, so Erin tried to put the disappearing corpse out of her mind.
Erin Solstice	Something smelled really bad. And it was coming from the kitchen. The instant Erin opened the door, she groaned aloud.
Erin Solstice	Erin stared at the fish for a few more seconds. She had absolutely no desire to touch it. On the other hand…
Erin Solstice	A few black things crawled out of the fish’s mouth. Erin stared at the small things, gagged, and then ran outside before she hurled.
Erin Solstice	How did you get rid of a fish? Erin put it outside on the ground and stared at it.
Erin Solstice	She picked it up and walked for about fifteen minutes before she was sure she was far enough away from the inn. Then, Erin unceremoniously dumped the rotting fish off the cutting board.
Erin Solstice	As the fish hit the ground, it exploded. Something inside of it broke or squished, and suddenly a host of little black and green insects exited the fish’s body from every orifice. Erin took one look, screamed, and ran. She was getting good at that.
Erin Solstice	Erin thrust the plank of wood in the water and watched fish guts and insects sweep away into the current. It wasn’t the dead fish she objected to. Well, not as much as the live bugs that clung stubbornly to the wood. They were small, and she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or further disgusted to see they were flies, not beetles or anything worse.
Erin Solstice	Big flies, though, with fat, glowing abdomens. Like—disgusting fireflies, lurid green instead of nice yellow. Not that fireflies were that cute up close either. Erin pointed at the last straggler refusing to be pulled off by the water.
Erin Solstice	The tenacious fly seemed to have the strength of ten bugs, because it refused to let the current drag it off. Erin lifted the board a bit and realized this fly had other odd qualities. Something about its head was triangular, and yes, that glowing abdomen was far bigger than a firefly’s. It even looked slightly…liquid, and the bloated insect was like nothing she had ever seen before on Earth.
Erin Solstice	She dunked the board and shook it underwater. Swish. Swish. The bug clung to the wet wood despite Erin’s best attempts to shake it off. Then she noticed another detail.
Erin Solstice	It was also segmented in two places, as if the bug had people-legs. That was weird and disconcerting. And still, it refused to let go of the wood, fanning its wings futilely and trying to fly off. Probably to join its many siblings still buzzing around the dead fish’s corpse. Well, Erin wasn’t going to bother the rest of them, but this one? This one had a date with the water. It just refused to go.
Erin Solstice	Annoyed at this resistance, Erin finally pulled the cutting board out of the water. The insect fanned its wings as she stared at it. It was really mostly like a firefly, except that its backside was glowing green. Better than a cockroach, but there was only one way to deal with bugs like that.
Erin Solstice	Erin curled her finger and gave the bug a damn good flick.
Erin Solstice	The insect’s green abdomen burst into a splatter of green liquid as the rest of it flew off into the stream. Erin blinked as the green liquid covered the cutting board and splashed into the water.
Erin Solstice	Some of it landed on Erin’s arm. Instantly, both the board and her arm began to smoke and dissolve.
Erin Solstice	She plunged her arm into the water. It was an instinctive reaction, but it made the pain vanish. Still, Erin frantically scrubbed at the spot until all of the burning pain had gone. She looked at the cutting board and stared as the green liquid ate into the wood until she dunked it into the water. Then she stared at her burnt skin, and the cutting board, eaten away by…
Erin Solstice	Erin turned her head and backed away as the rest of the glowing insects buzzed around the dead fish.
Erin Solstice	Her skin was red and sore from the brief contact with acid, but she was fine. Nevertheless, she washed both her body and the cutting board until she felt completely clean. This was less fun, because Erin was also watching out for strange shadows in the water.
Erin Solstice	Erin stared at the dead fish as she walked back to the inn. The fish’s body was swarming with those little acid flies. They were probably laying eggs in it or something equally fun.
Erin Solstice	Briefly, Erin considered dragging the fish into the stream and letting all the buggers drown. Then she considered what would happen if all the flies landed on her and exploded.
Erin Solstice	Erin raised first one, then both her middle fingers. Her injured left hand hurt like fire, but it still made her feel better.

Erin woke up with her back against the inn’s front door. Her neck was aching, and her hand was burning. It was morning.

Where was it? Erin hobbled over to a table. There. Two daggers on the tabletop. She looked around at the windows—some even had furniture piled up to make sure nothing could get in. And she’d been up all night, waiting to hear anything trying to come in. But no other Goblins had, and the other one had left its dagger as well, albeit unwillingly. Erin mumbled to herself as she poked one of the hilts with a finger.

Chapter 1.05

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