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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ladybird" data-source="post: 2981645" data-attributes="member: 10689">They were almost in time.The voller sat on a broad plain, far below the high hill where the Canberrians watched. The ship was surrounded by dozens of Hanalian knights, all rushing in a frantic, scattered stream towards another, smaller group of people.  Twelve figures, their stark black robes pulled up over their heads, surrounded a small, slim woman. The woman’s brightly-colored clothing stood out boldly against the dark robes, and flashed in and out as she struggled against the robed figures. “It’s the princess!” Jet shouted, already drawing his sword as he started to move forward. But Alessandre stretched out a hand to stop him, her soft voice high with fright. “No!” she gasped. “Look there!”As they watched, the destination of the robed figures became clear: an enormously tall, elegantly-garbed figure whose furred snout and ears were impeccably groomed. “A Rat Lord?” Jet exclaimed, staring in incredulous horror. The black robe of one the other figures slipped down, revealing the black armor and fur of Eshen gutter-runners. The Rat Lord reached out towards the still-struggling Anastasia, its manicured claws curling viciously around her arm.And then the Rat Lord and the Princess of Hanal disappeared.A roar of distraught anger arose from the Hanalian soldiers, and they sped forward, falling upon the remaining gutter-runners with vicious force. But a few of the knights were moving more slowly, weighed down by armor and age – white hair showed at the bottom of their helms. The older knights staggered to a halt, a few of them bent double with the effort of breathing, and with the effort of enduring after the loss of their princess. With a slow, grieving solemnity, they helped each other out of their armor, and then fell on their swords, punishing themselves for the dishonor of having lost Princess Anastasia.If there was any doubt about Kit’s origins among the other Canberrians, those doubts were cleared up as soon as Princess Anastasia disappeared. “Dame Katherine” let out a stream of furious language that came directly from the filthy streets of Plurg.“Right out from under our bloody noses!” she managed to choke out at last. “We were so close! So close!”Jet was scowling down at the increasingly bloody scene below them. “They’re too old to be out there anyway,” he said, shaking his head sadly at the aged knights strewn over the field. “They can’t be blamed for losing her – and how do they think that that will help them find her?”Aha!” Toby’s triumphant cry turned all eyes towards him, with curious, hopeful looks. With the air of someone who has just made a great discovery, he declared, “The skaven were responsible!” As the others started to turn away again in exasperation, Toby continued, “And those people look like they’re trying to find them!” And, in fact, a separate group of Hanalians – younger knights, and some wearing the distinctive robes of mages - was starting to fan out across the plain.“If they’re searching, we need to search, too,” Kit declared, her anger starting to resolve itself into determination. “The princess is a good person, and the best hope we’ve got of a sane leader in Hanal.” Kit wasn’t sure when she had started to call Canberry ‘we’; nor was she sure when she had decided that she knew so definitively what Anastasia was like. But she had the complete strength of her convictions behind her words. “We’ll tell the other knights that we’ve talked to the Duke of Snattercaz, and offer our help in searching for her.” Then Kit sighed, as a new thought hit her. “And I’m going to have to tell Snattercaz what happened, too.” She shook her head wearily, and took out the linkstone to tell the Duke that the princess had been kidnapped.[End of Session 5]</blockquote>

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