They were visiting the beach, so of course Taako busted out his surfboard. He cut an interesting figure, gliding across the waves as if it were magic. Angus, still learning how to swim, was distracted by the spectacle.
He almost didn’t hear Magnus yell, “Watch out for the riptide!”
Angus had just enough time to say, “The what?” Before the water yanked him under. There was swirling, and he couldn’t tell which way was up, and rough coral cut him and something hit his head and then all was darkness.
“SHIT!” Magnus bellowed. he took a deep breath and dove into the riptide, trying to at least be there for the kid.
Taako saw the whole thing, including a very small figure zipping underneath him. Followed not closely enough by the big lug with the minimal perception score. He flicked the surfboard around and rode away from the cresting wave he’d been riding, paddling with his hands to get extra speed. He cast Water Breathing on Angus and Magnus, and hoped that he was in time.
Under the water, Magnus felt gills grow. His vision cleared in the briny deep, and he could see Angus floating limply in the water. He had gills, too, but they didn’t seem to be working. Blood plumed out from some wounds. He started swimming towards the kid, hoping he got there before the shadows in the depths.
Taako summoned his new pet from his pirate adventure, bidding it to look for those humanmen and bring them to Taako. Magnus freaked at the sight of a giant octopus. He wasn’t that great about anything with eight legs. Taako had his eyes on the kid, Mango could look after himself.
The Octopus was gentle, of course, bringing Angus carefully up to the surface.
Angus wasn’t breathing.
They were far from the shore and Angus wasn’t breathing.
Taako got Magnus on the surfboard and said, “Take this back to shore.” He stepped onto the octopus and used that as a steed to get most of the way back to shore. For the last twenty feet, he got the octopus to throw them.
He landed near Merle, who was ready to cast Spare the Dying. Both of them together wrestled air into Angus’ lungs.
Taako only breathed when Angus recovered from coughing and spitting up water. “I told you he should’a gone swimming in the lagoon.”
“No you didn’t, I did,” argued Merle. “You said he’d be fine.”
“Can’t prove it,” said Taako.
Angus shakily sat up. “Thank you, sirs. I thought I was a goner for a second there.”
“Take it easy for a few,” advised Taako. “Not everyone can be a wizard of the waves like Taako.”
Somewhere, out in the ocean, Magnus yelled, “Taako! How do you make it go?”
Challenge #02063-E239: Barry Critiques Them Afterwards — Steemit
Taako had been through many adventures. He had travelled across a hundred realities. He had bargained away his beauty, his health, and a skill to save the world. But this? This had to be the toughest fight of his life. For example, strictly off the top of his head, the fifteen-point landing he’d just endured because this particular band of necromantic chucklefucks had decided to sew together the corpses of several Large species to be their boss monster.
The only plus side was that it had killed several of them before Tres Horny Boys even got started. The minus side, naturally, was that he was down to zero hit points for the third time in this quote-unquote adventure.
Nearly dying just fucking hurt. At least unconsciousness swept it all away for a while. Not much of a while, because his family had learned to carry some health potions at long last for the benefit of the glass canon of the team. The rest of his team was clapping in the most sarcastic manner possible.
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One Day Out of Neverwinter - InterNutter - The Adventure Zone (Podcast) [Archive of Our Own]
…darn these slippery fingers of mine.
THB on their first official adventure. Taako sees Merle’s butt.
THB headcannon
Is it wrong that I instantly face-claim Taako as a young Danny Kaye? Only… more Latino-ish and with vitiligo, freckles, that classic gap in the buck teeth, and heterochromia.
His left eye is green and his right is amber btw.
And he has modern-animation-girl-snout. Like this:
Of course Taako pulls all this off and looks _FABULOUS_ because… he’s _Taako_. You know. From TV?