[PashaDawg]

Flying high above the forest, Sabrina, one of the most skillful of all harpies, was returning from a long reconnaissance mission from the Jotun Mountains. She spotted two of her sister harpies, Jill and Kelly, perched high on a black walnut tree and gracefully perched herself on a nearby branch.

“Hey, Jill and Kelly… ugh… the things I’ve seen in the land of the Giants!” Sabrina fluffed her feathers stylishly.

“Don’t tell me,” remarked Jill, preening herself. “The river is yellow.”

“I can’t believe it! How’d you know?”

Jill yawned and stretched her wings. “I just returned from spying on Marignon, and that’s all they could talk about. ‘The river’s yellow.’ ‘The Giants have a new pretender’ and ‘Stoke the Fires of the Inquisition’. You know… blah, blah, blah.” Jill rolled her eyes. Sabrina snickered as she reached for some lotion for her shapely talons.

“Don’t complain,” Kelly giggled. “It’s not like you were forced to go to Hell and back like me. The Ghost King and his fat propagandizers are celebrating their recent victory, but they’re still unhappy. According to their bloodsucking queen, the Pale One is *****ing about how the Zen Effect is cramping his style.”

“Hey girls!” shouted a centaur at the bottom of the tree. “C’mon quickly to the grand meadow. The Great Lord of the Wild is taking a break from the afternoon’s debauchery. I think he should hear what you have to report.”

“We’ll be right over, Boz,” called down Sabrina. “What happened to Charlie the Oracle?”

“He’s out of the picture for now,” answered Boz. “Had something to do with the strategic disadvantages of immobility.”