The noise of beating wings was subtle, but it boomed on Grath''s ears like thunder. He whirled around, dagger raised, nectar jar sloshing in his left hand. A massive black-clad vulture landed gracelessly on the Flounder''s mid-deck cabin wall. "HEYYYY!!! NOOO!!!" Grath shrieked at the giant bird. His blood ran cold as he set the jar down and picked up his tether rope in his left hand. Grath''s right hand gripped the dagger, his knuckles white on the wood and leather-strapped handle. Common LeatherHead Vulture. Average height standing fully stretched: 9 imperial digits. Roughly a digit taller than Grath. Wingspan: 26 imperial digits. The vulture turned its wrinkled red head towards Grath''s shout. It eyed him coldly, then turned back to the cabin. It extended its neck through one of the cabin''s many windows. Grath sprinted across the flower. It was here for his dried meat. Fogborn monster, Grath cursed in his mind. I should have paid better attention to the sky. If it eats my dried meat and bread... He reached the edge of the flower and leapt to the ship. Descending the net of straps around the main balloon, Grath shouted obscenities at the bird. With a squawk, the vulture pulled its head free of the cabin''s cloth and pine walls. Its shoe-sized beak latched onto a bag of dried meats. It flipped backward from the ship, its talons releasing awkwardly and tearing long slashes in the ship''s cloth. The vulture tumbled momentarily, then righted itself with a series of wild flapping motions and soared up wide of the ship. Grath watched it. He knew better than to expect it to leave. Leatherheads are like a lot of giant carrion birds in that they will kill you before they give up on a good haul. Another vulture or eagle could scare it off, but a single human... No matter how dangerous Grath thought himself to be, the vulture would risk tussling with a lone traveler. Grath scrambled for the top deck, nearly tangling his tether line in the process. The klienah flower would help keep the Flounder stable, so at least he didn''t have to worry about that. He needed better armaments. He reached his sleeping tent and drew his paddle sword and crossbow.


    Splinters and Sulfur, it had fought humans before, Grath realized as the bird wheeled towards him. The crossbow wasn''t loaded yet, and the bird knew it?! Grath dropped the crossbow and drew his dagger in his left hand. In his right, he raised his wood paddle blade. The black walnut blade was less than 2 digits wide and roughly 3 long. Its leaf-like shape was designed as a club of sorts. Unlike the obsidian-edged blades of pirates and soldiers, the paddle sword was made to not accidentally damage your own ship in a fight. It was short enough for close combat. In other words, a terrible weapon to fight a vulture. A spear or long cutting blade would have sufficed better. The vulture did not dive like an eagle. It landed a few steps shy of Grath and ran like an angry hen, its wings beating furiously. It hissed and snapped at him, its long neck snake-like. Grath swung at its head with his sword and stabbed repeatedly at its wings with his dagger.