WWJ VIII ~ Things That Go "Quack" In The Night

[The Saucepan Man]

Grrr! The nasty Wereducks killed the nice Halfling poet. I don’t hold much with poetry and the like. It makes my head hurt. But Miss Took was kind to me and did not treat me as an outcast just ‘cos I’m an Orc, unlike some I could mention.

*Glares at Glirdan*

But Halflings are weak and easy prey for these evil Ducks. Not like us Orcs. We are strong. We command! I have no fear of Ducks. They should fear me, ‘cos it’s my job to scare birds and I’m good at it. I will laugh in the face of their misshapen bills! I will roar to drown out their ridiculous quacks! I will spit on their downy backs! No, they hold no fear for me. So let’s hunt them down like the overgrown game-birds that they are!

Originally Posted by Glirdan

I suggest watching those two evil folk as you Men, Dwarves and Elves would call them.

How hasty you are in trying to stoke up the village’s prejudices against us Orckind, Glirdan. As the enlightened bird-catcher has pointed out, we make easy targets. But we are reformed Orcs, not the evil creatures of the olden tales. Many amongst you will know how useful I have proved myself in scaring the crows away from your crops. And so I hope to prove myself equally useful to the village in seeking out and destroying these Ducks of Udún.

I suppose it should not surprise me, coming from an overgrown twig such as yourself. But I wonder if there is some scheming behind your attempt to pick on the more vulnerable members of this village. I will be keeping an Orcish eye on you, Ent. ‘Tis oftentimes the case that those who arrive first at the scene turn out to be those who committed the grisly act.

And I don’t like the look of that idle Elf, mormegil. Quite apart from him being a filthy tark, he is unwilling to aid our village without payment of some kind. That smacks of selfishness and greed to me. But perhaps he has other motives for his reluctance to help out. Perhaps he would rather help the Duckish cause, either because he is one of them himself or because, being but a Goose, wants them to suck seed – er - succeed.

There is little point now in dwelling at length on the consequences of our inability to recognise the Gifteds (except, of course, the Hawk) following their deaths. Not until the Ducks kill again, at least. So, they (and especially the Owl) should act as they see fit with that knowledge in mind.

Originally Posted by Nogrod

What worries me in this situation, is that we stand a very high risk of losing all the dreams, with no way to convince ourselves, whose post are worth looking really closely.

That is something which I am sure has occurred to all of us (guilty and innocent alike), and one of which I am sure the Owl is only too aware. But I think we should leave the Owl to act as he or she thinks best. Discussing Owlish tactics amongst ourselves only risks exposing the Owl. In fact, Nogrod, I am wary of one who would suggest such a thing. I think it best that we concentrate on rooting out the Ducks.

Admittedly, unless the Ducks slip up, this first Day will most likely provide little enlightenment to us while we are living through it. But things that are said now may prove helpful to us in the future. Remember, the Wereducks will be trying to maintain a semblance of innocence on the surface. But, underneath the water, their nasty little legs will be paddling furiously. We need to try to spot the guilty activity below the surface. And to do that, we all need to keep talking, and thereby force the Ducks to keep quacking or else stand out like targets in a shooting gallery.