The Charismatic Glass Cannon

“We will feed her. She will grow. She will make this place for our own,” a skittering voice said.

I looked over to where I heard the sound and saw a behemoth of a cockroach. What did they call it again in games when a normal animal was bigger? Dire or something? If that was it, then this thing was a fucking dire cockroach. It could also camouflage, or it lucked out being almost the same color as the wood floors of the inn. It was also disgusting. Normal cockroaches are gross enough, but enlarged, that added a whole new level.

“All hail the Great Blattodea. We shall feed her. She will grow. She will make this place for our own,” the dire cockroach said.

The cockroach was using its front legs to try to wedge something free that was stuck between the boards.

I guess I should try this out. It's not listening to animals it's speaking.

“Hello there,” I said to the cockroach.

The cockroach turned and looked at me.

“You talkin’ to me?” the cockroach replied.

“I am. What were you talking about just now? Something about the Great Blattodea?”

“She would be mad. She would be angry. We do not share our plans with outsiders.”

“Oh, not to worry. I am good friends with the Great Blattodea,” I lied. “You can tell me.”

I thought I would try to kill two birds with one stone here. I wanted to test out my charisma if it worked on bugs, along with this spell to speak with animal’s. The opaque cartoon bubble hearts floated over the cockroach’s head. They were a deep red, popping with little hearts which popped again. A Russian doll of popping cartoon red hearts. I took that as a good sign.

“Friend of Great Blattodea you say. You friend, then we friend. I can tell friend of Great Blattodea.”

“So, tell me more?” I asked, trying to get the cockroach to speak.

“I do mission for Great Blattodea. I tell her where to go. I scout. I tell her where she should come up from the down below. All my brothers and sisters will come up from down below.”

“Down below here?”

“Yes, I will tell her. She will come from down below here. Food here. Little food here and big moving food here.”

“Big moving food?”

“Yes. You big moving food. Not you. You friend.”

Was this cockroach saying there is some sort of creature living below the ground with more cockroaches planning to come out and eat everyone? I had only been here like a day and already was involved with a lot of fucked up shit.

An idea popped into my head of trying to use my charisma to change its mind, but I didn't know where to point him. Anywhere had to be better than the inn. The fortress? Yeah, the fortress sounded good.

“I am also a scout for the Great Blattodea. I have a better place. The fortress. It has lots of food.”

A notification popped up that I ignored. I was preoccupied with how this communication worked. I could feel that the communication was different than speaking. Like my very ideas were being translated into words. Like I could send the idea of the fortress, and the cockroach would know what I knew about where and what it was.

“More food? More food than here?”

“Yes. Much more food. Lots of food for her.”

“Good idea. I will tell her.”

He scurried away towards a gap in a baseboard. As he squeezed through, I heard him say.

“We will feed her. Fortress she will go. She will make it for our own.”

And at that, he was gone. Well, that was weird. I'm also not sure if I made things better or worse. I should probably give the fortress a warning. But what would I say? I talked with a cockroach, and he said something is coming to attack from underground? I didn't even know what it was. They'd be fine. I hope.

I then ate my words as I pulled up the pending notification. There were two now. The first one my interface read.

Quest Offered: Do you want to join the Great Blattodea for her planned uprising of carnage?

Reward: Estimated 1-20 renown.

You have accepted the quest Assisting the Great Blattodea for her planned uprising of carnage.

New Key Player unlocked! The Great Blattodea.

Just fucking great.