Orr would need a little more time to fully recover. He still couldn't even regain his normal posture while moving through the swamp. After all, the greedy Endless One, Mannis, had bitten off half of the poor giant serpent's tail out in the Sea of Stars. Even though Ningjinanka had the serpentine trait of "shedding its skin to be reborn," recovery wouldn't be easy.
But unless Transia was in such dire straits that the gnolls swept through and left it on the brink of destruction, forcing Orr to step up and lead the charge, there probably wouldn't be any more outside forces to interrupt its healing. So Murphy could confidently say things were "looking up."
In his plans, the giant swamp serpent would be the "anchor" of the Filthy Swamp's defenses. A pillar like that had to be in perfect condition for battle.
As the serpent lord returned to the forbidden zone with its newborn snake, it also sent Murphy its thanks and promised to give him a "gift" as a token of gratitude.
Call it payment for the treatment.
The legendary serpent was intelligent, if not especially clever. It could smell the Endless One's presence on Murphy, and figured that he must have risked some dangerous dealings with that crazy bastard to get the Endless One's venom for the antidote.
Any rational creature would feel obliged to repay such a "great kindness."
Murphy didn't refuse the offer.
Players always expected a reward after completing a quest, and the vampire had truly paid a lot to complete this side quest to "save the giant serpent." For one thing, his reputation with the other astral demigods had fallen to indifferent or even hostile because of the Endless One. That was already a pretty hefty "price."
Fair or not, he felt he