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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Enk&amp;D'Shai" data-source="post: 449205" data-attributes="member: 7569">"Rodents of Unusual Size," or "What is this, the Fire Swamp?"Butterfinger... Hello everyone, sorry we're late but D'shai just had to go trick or treating.Snickers bar...Ooooh! Reese Cup.... The sad thing is he doesn't have any kids, he doesn't have a niece or nephew around, and he dresses like a pirate everyday anyway. WOW! Pop Rocks and Nerds! I thought Pop Rocks were banned ten years ago...Ahhhhh...Chewy. Anyway, we've finally gotten around to giving another update. Sorry for the inconveniece (this means you especially, Badger). Now,before we go any further, wait a minute... D'shai, get over here and do the Tip of the Day!Beweej  murph MHhhh tweeste  wunderfunk, quijibo ....MMMMMMMMM........wdeter stofth. You are a sick and twisted individual - next time make sure you come up with one that won't offend Eric's Grandmother. That's just gross. Now get the caramel off my monitor, come up with one more family friendly.Tip O' the Day Never get into a land war with Russia. Too Princess Bride. Want to give it another try?Never gamble with a Sicilian when death is on the line? Try again. This time something original.At least it's better than "Loose lips sink ships." Hey, it's not my fault that I've only gotten one suggestion from our kind, loyal, and inventive readers *cough* slackers *cough*.Alright. Never write a check in the cash only line, especially if Fett is behind you. Now that's a good tip.Before we actually post up this time, we did want to say something  bit more serious. We really respect what military men and women give up to protect their country. Being US citizens, we really appreciate your willingness to give up your time with your son to protect our interests, Badger. Just for this occasion, I've got Red, White, and Blue Airheads in my mouth! Whvs fr u, Bawwer!Oh, and we'll take care of emailing Badger that the update is ready to go.Enjoy...*****"Rodents of Unusual Size," or "What is this, the Fire Swamp?"Pack wiped the sweat from his eyes and stepped out from behind Theo to thrust his lucky dagger into the flank of the closest rat. The halfling was tired and sore from the constant ambushes set by the filthy beasts ever since the friends had entered this section of the underground citadel. It seemed like days to the bard since they had broken camp and followed Meepo the kobold down dark passages. Pack breathed a sigh of relief as Aurora’s azure missiles followed the last rat back into their latest ambush hole near a dried up fountain. The bard quickly slumped to the ground resting his back against fountain wall as Theo and Ander quickly covered the hole with rocks and debris, just as they had several other times. Pack watched as they finished and then the group huddled up near him to rest and discuss options. Theo tended to the bites and scrapes of the companions once everyone had caught their breath. “How many rats can there be?” Aurora questioned as she glanced around nervously fingering the dragon bone wand.   “Rats tend to live in huge clusters,” Ander remarked. “But I tend to think we are seeing the same seven or so rats rotating with each ambush, three or four at a time.” “That doesn’t make any sense. They aren’t smart enough for that. They’re rats!” Pack gasped. “I mean they are bigger and stronger, but they are just rats, aren’t they?” “I think their actions speak for them, young Pack, and I think it is time we stopped underestimating our foe because of their little cousin’s frailty.” Theo never looked up from bandaging the wound on the kobold guide as he answered Pack’s question, but the halfling got the feeling that the words were aimed more toward Ander than himself. “I also think we need to arm our guide if we wish him to stay alive long enough to get us to the dragon. He has fought tooth and nail along side us and we could use the extra weapon in light of our foe’s tactical approach.”Pack heard Ashrem growl at the notion of arming the kobold, but the feloine said nothing and instead turned and stared at Ander. Pack also turned and eyed the woodsman, expecting his immediate response. Instead he saw a large frown fall over the warrior’s face and his brow wrinkled in contemplation. Pack’s stomach sank at the mere thought that Ander was stumped on how to combat the rodents, but to the halfling’s astonishment the frown soon turned to words.“You’re right Theo, its time we started acting like a team and using tactics of our own. Ashrem, you will take lead, about twenty steps should be enough, and don’t take any chances. Drop back if you see anything. Theo, you and Pack will guard Aurora and Meepo. I will...”Ander kept talking but the woodsman’s words had dazed the halfling. I have never been asked to guard anything, not even the wine cellar. Ander thinks I am big and strong enough to guard someone. Theo was right maybe I am a hero like the rest of them. I wish that Worm could see this, but if Worm were here he would guard Aurora and not me. No, if Worm were here these rats would be too scared to attack us and the goblins would give the dragon back and the children would be saved already. He’s not here though so I guess it’s up to me.“Pack? Pack, do you think you can handle that?” “What? Oh sure Ander, anything you say.” The halfling quickly replied, nodding briskly to cover up his embarrassment.“Alright, Ashrem lead on, and stay tight. I’ll be right behind you.” With that said the woodsman turned to take his position in the rear, but Brother Theo interjected.“What about the kobold, Ander?”The woodsman’s frown returned, but he nodded and quickly replied to the question. “If you are willing to take the risks, Brother, then give him that old spear you found. Ashrem – you have permission to shoot the kobold dead if you see him level it against any of us.”The priest nodded and yanked the small spear from his pack and handed it towards the scaly guide. Meepo’s eyes lit up and the kobold knelt face down and extended its claws to receive his gift. Once the spear was resting perfectly in Meepo’s grasp, Pack watched the small guide leap up and march around Aurora growling at the shadows and rock piles that once housed the ambushing rats. Pack smiled at the image and something in his stomach told the halfling that Ander and Ashrem were wrong about the kobold. The bard somehow knew that Meepo would give his life to protect Aurora, and as Ander walked away scowling, it suddenly made sense to Pack. Ander’s jealous! He wants to be the one to protect Aurora. He really likes her. Ander likes Aurora! Ander likes Aurora!The bard suddenly aware that the party was moving off without him, skipped to catch up, humming his childish ditty as he did so. Ander and Aurora, strolling by the stream, k-i-s-s-i-n-g! Only the look on Brother Theo’s stern face as he peered into the darkness beyond the torches brought the young bard back to the seriousness of the situation. The hallway that they descended into was filled with dust and debris from the collapsing ceiling and various piles of rotting garbage. At the far end, Pack could make out a door, and beyond it the feloine’s silhouette kneeling down and inspecting something just beyond the torch’s light. As the group moved closer, he noticed that Ashrem raised a hand to stop them from moving into the room. Heeding the actions of the feloine scout, Pack and the others halted just shy of the doorway. Peeking around the frame, the halfling was able to see that Ashrem was examining a series of pits, similar to the one in the courtyard: but these had been spiked open. Pack knew that Ashrem hadn’t had time to do it, and this raised many questions in the curious bard’s mind. As Pack watched, the feloine carefully traced the edges of the pits with his gloved hands and then moved slowly around the floor tracing each crack in the stone. The bard assumed that Ashrem thought there were more traps in the room. Suddenly the calm quiet stillness of the moment was shattered by a cracking thud that shook a door that Pack now noticed in the adjacent wall to his left.A second thud reverberated through the room and huge cracks appeared in the wooden door. “Guthash,” Pack heard Meepo whisper as the kobold lowered his spear and placed himself between Aurora and the buckling door. Ashrem had begun picking his way back towards them when the door shuddered violently one last time and blew off its hinges. Pieces of the door pelted the furred scout as Pack heard him scream. “Run!”Without even seeing what had caused the thunderous impact that blew the door outward, Pack panicked and turned to flee. Only Ander’s warning from that direction stopped the halfling from bolting. “There’s more rats back here!” Pack felt his heart stop as three large rats burst from hidden pits beneath the garbage to block the party’s retreat. Pack recognized these rats from the various wounds that each one sported: just like he would any barbarians who had caused problems at the bar the night before when Worm had been bouncing. These were the filthy rats that had been plaguing them all the way down the hallway. The halfling’s heart sank and he could feel the fear shooting down all the way to his toes: they were trapped. Trapped like rats!Pack felt a torch being thrust into his hands as Aurora, a determined looked on her face, stepped up next to him and unleashed one of her signature dragon missiles. The missile spiraled in and blew one of the large rats into small fleshy chunks as it leapt towards the flanked woodsman. The other rat was skewered by a charging spear-wielding kobold that seemed to be mimicking the flight and destructive power of the magical missile - except that the kobold’s rat didn’t explode but rather disintegrated as Meepo kept jumping up and down on it, stabbing it all the while. The experienced woodsman efficiently dealt with the final ambushing rat and Pack realized that he was not ready to be categorized with these great heroes. They had fought while he had been frozen with fear. Even delicate Aurora, although now visible shaken, had acted while he had not.   “Pack! Get Aurora and Meepo back down the hallway!” Ander yelled and Pack moved to comply while the woodsman dashed toward the room where Theo and Ashrem battled whatever had burst through the door. Pack’s bardic curiosity got the better of him and he peeked into the room as he grabbed for Aurora’s hand.  The halfling felt himself begin to shake again at what he saw. A large white rat, twice the size of Pack himself and covered in boils and sores that oozed with yellow pus, snapped at Theo’s shield. Each bite tore small chunks from the wooden shield as the cleric tried to cover the woodsman as he helped a limping Ashrem toward the door. The feloine’s cloth wrappings were soaked with blood from what seemed to be a large bite right above his hip.Pack didn’t need to see anymore to know that they were in real trouble and the young bard yanked Aurora’s hand and ran, the kobold guide bounding along behind them. The trio didn’t make it very far before scuffling could be heard behind the walls and the halfling knew that they were about to be ambushed by the remaining rats. Releasing the sorceress’s hand pack pulled his dagger back out and prepared to hurl it at the first rat that came into view. He also saw Aurora clutch the dragon bone wand and prepare for the raiding rats. Only Meepo stood there staring at Aurora’s hands, seemingly oblivious to the threat that was about to descend upon them.Then the rats were among them, threatening to overwhelm the trio. Meepo let out a high pitched war cry that sounded like someone had run over a dog with a wagon, and jumped atop one of the four huge vermin, skewering it immediately, while Pack struggled to keep his feet as another tried to bowl him over. Pack heard the flash and sizzle of Aurora’s wand dispatch first one, and then another, leaving only the rat grappling with the halfling. The bard shoved the stinking beast away from him, and saw Ander’s staff crack into the rodent from behind. It fell, it’s back bent in an unnatural shape, and lay still.“Move!” the woodsman shouted, “Back to the fountain!” Ander was helping to support Ashrem’s weak form, and Pack could see the feloine’s bleeding had not stopped. Finally, as the scout’s form went completely limp, Ander shrugged his blood soaked companion over his shoulder with a grunt and made for the fountain. Running backward, Pack could see Theo retreating from the great white beast step by step, covering their escape with desperate shield work.Pack ran back to the stone fountain as quickly as his legs could take him. There, he shrugged off his namesake and set it against the wall. Seconds later, Ashrem lay against the backpack, red blood staining his already dirty wrappings. Then Ander streaked off toward Theo. Pack watched in the flickering light as the warrior charged right by the aging cleric and struck the mother of all rats a glancing double handed blow. “Ashrem needs your help now, Brother! He won’t make it without it!”Theo jangled back toward the other companions and dropped his weapon and shield at Ashrem’s feet, immediately praying fervently to Zuras, his strong hands seeking out the scout’s wound. Pack joined Theo in his work as best he could, mimicking the movements and words that gave Theo his healing hands, but while Theo’s hands glowed with a pale blue light, causing the bite on Ashrem’s side to pucker and close, Pack’s did nothing. “Go help Ander, Pack. We’ll take care of Ashrem.” Theo’s voice was strained and short, and quickly the priest was lost in yet another prayer to the Storm Lord.Pack stood up and made to rush off towards the fight, but found that the fight had come to him. Not ten feet away, Ander stood locked in combat with the huge white rat. Wrapped up in Ashrem’s healing, the bard had not heard the approaching battle.Ander looked tired: the woodsman gasped in short breaths and grunted heavily as he struck again and again at the huge beast, and he was covered with small scrapes and scratches. The rat looked worse: one eye was swollen shut, and the beast lurched from side to side, as if it had an injured leg. It also sported a large gash along its side that looked to have been bleeding for some time, as the fur below it was tinged red. In the flickering torchlight, it looked monstrous.Suddenly the rat lunged forward and sank its teeth deep into Ander’s shoulder. The woodsman screamed in pain and fell to the side, seemingly stunned. “Noooooooo!” Pack screamed and rushed forward, pointing at the man sized beast as he did. Ander leaned heavily on the stone wall as the halfling charged. The world seemed to slow for the halfling. He saw Ander fall sideways against the well cut stone of the wall. He saw the rat snarl as it brought its attention to its new annoyance. And then he saw his dagger, glinting in the torchlight, slip under the rat’s great fanged maw and sink into the filthy white fur all the way to the hilt. With a gurgling gasp and a shudder, the thing died and slumped to the ground.Pack followed a moment later, suddenly aware that he had acted like a hero, too. *****Next Time:"Once More Into the Breach, Dear Friends," or "How Come They Get a Wall?"</blockquote>

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