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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Amaroq" data-source="post: 1306479" data-attributes="member: 15470">When everyone is ready, we pack camp and begin to proceed along the road. After an hour and a half deeper into the swamp, Delonia says that we're just down the road from the compound. In quick whispers, Milo again offers to jump out, but Paks insists that he should stay in the slave role. Paks asks Chuck to set up quick release ropes attaching the horses to the cart. Miriel reminds us that only Paks, Chuck, and Delonia can talk once we reach the clearing – everyone else is a slave.As the cart pulls into the trading post, we see a few longhouses, made of local reeds and such, and one surprising house, of Veshian architecture.  The house wouldn’t have looked out of place on any of the streets of Southport. Though it’s a little run down, it might have been made by a good Vesh carpenter. There is a well, near the entrance, an old-fashioned well with a pump handle and some sluices. Past the well there are a number of trees, and some farmlands beyond that, where there may be some tubers growing. To the other side of the road, there are seven giant rats, fully the size of horses, grazing. Two ratmen, their fur a dark reddish-brown, and a few human slaves are herding the giant rats around. “Don’t worry,” Delonia says to Paks, “They’re just grazing the horserats.”Paks looks very worried. “Don’t the horserats fight?”“Yes,” Delonia says. “The ratmen ride them when they raid caravans. Surely you must have seen some, when they raided yours?” We had, in fact, and that’s what has Paks so worried. The horserats will be much faster than the two old nags we have, pulling a heavy cart through the swamp.Delonia waves, and calls out, “Ho!” The two ratmen recognize her, and wave back. “The Veshian house is the trading house,” she says to Paks in a low voice, and she guides the cart up near the door. Some slaves come up to the cart and offer to stable the horses. Paks shakes her head. “We’re not going to be here very long.”“Now we wait,” Delonia says out of the corner of her mouth. After a short wait, a tall ratman comes out of house. He, like the herdsmen, is a different color from the ratmen we’ve seen before, either on the caravan or in the swamp. He has some jewels beaded into his fur, and he’s wearing human clothing. Two ratmen warriors, armed with scimitars, stand behind him.“Hey, Delonia,” he says, stepping up to us.“Hello, Eltron,” she says.“We’ve been expecting you,” Eltron says congenially. “Come inside.” His voice has a rich, cultured accent which comes as a complete surprise to Paks and Chuck, who were expecting him to sound more barbaric.The two ratmen warriors guard the slaves, while Eltron, Delonia, and her two “guards” step into the meeting house. Inside, it’s just like a cozy Veshian house, with a nice fireplace, though there is no fire. The table is set out with mushrooms, potatoes, and a pitcher of wine. Over the fireplace there is a banner, with a red and black design of a skull and serpent inside a star. “Always a pleasure to see you, Delonia,” says Eltron. “It’s nice doing business with you. What have you got for us today?”Delonia sighs. “I’m afraid we ran into trouble in the swamp,” she says, “and lost some slaves. I have only three to offer.” Eltron looks sympathetic. “Yes,” he says, “It’s tough for you humans in the swamp.”“Yeah, the giant frogs attacked, and escaped with two of my slaves!” she says. Casting a dirty look at Chuck, she says, “These new guards aren’t so good.” “Hey,” Eltron says, “What happened to those other guys? They were good drinking buddies.”“We had a bit of a falling out,” Delonia says, “And had to part ways.” As they chat, Chuck takes the opportunity to surreptitiously look around the house. He notices some knotholes in one of the side walls, around eye level. He can’t tell if there are eyes in them, but there is no light shining through them.“How’s Virilius?” the ratman asks. Delonia nods. “He’s doing well.”“Good. It’s always good doing business with the de Asuras. So, anyway, for only three slaves I can only give you half as many poisons as I gave you last time. Maybe I can throw in some glitter ink; you seemed to like it.” Delonia looks disappointed, but nods again. “That’s fair. My losses aren’t your problem,” she says. “Speaking of Virilius, he asked me...” she pauses, and appears to consider her words. “He has a deal he wants to discuss with SySy. I’m afraid I have to negotiate with her and her alone.” Eltron looks hurt. “You can’t talk to me about it?” Delonia shakes her head. “I was instructed to talk to her alone for this one.” Eltron looks her in the eye for a moment, considering, then agrees with her request. “Okay,” he says, “But only because you represent one of our best customers. Virilius is Virilius, after all. I’ll go ask my mistress if she’ll talk to you.” “Thank you,” Delonia says.“Enjoy the refreshments,” Eltron says, and leaves the three of them alone in the guesthouse. Delonia nibbles politely at the food, but Paks and Chuck, in their role as guards, do not.Chuck peers through one of the holes, but it’s dark on the other side and there is nothing to see. He examines the floor, looking for tracks in the dust. He sees footprints leading to one of the panels in the wall with the knotholes, and suspects that it might be a hidden door. He didn’t get a good look at the house from outside, however, and can’t discern where it might lead.Eltron returns after about ten minutes, with a large ratwoman. She is a little bigger than Eltron, and her fur is also reddish, with strange patterns shaved out it, and little trinkets woven into the rest. “Hello, SySy,” says Delonia, as they step through the door.“It’s nice to see you again, Delonia,” the witch replies. “Let Virilius know we’re very satisfied with our business. Now, what is it you want to discuss?” Paks steps forward, between SySy and Delonia. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but we’re here to put a stop to this business. We’ve already put a stop to Virilius.” Without further preamble, she draws her sword and leaps forward to attack.Despite her obvious surprise, SySy dodges that first blow. Chuck rushes over, with his longsword in one hand, and the glowing magical dagger in the other. He steps between SySy and the door and attacks her. He also misses, but the two guards have bought enough time for Delonia to cast a spell, and a color spray, a rainbow fan of brilliant light, bursts from her fingers and sprays across SySy and Eltron. SySy appears to be blinded, but Eltron can still see. Though unarmed, he rushes forward to attack Delonia, the source of the spell. He tries to claw her with his claws and bite her, but she nimbly escapes his clutches. Paks swings at SySy again, and the blinded trader cannot see to dodge the blow. The young warrior hits the rat woman, wounding her deeply. Outside, everyone can see magical light streaming out of the doorway of the house. The two ratman guards turn to look, turning their backs to the slaves. They talk to each other quickly in rat language. From their body language, the three “slaves” guess that the conversation is something like, “Holy Mormo! What’s going on?”The ratmen draw their weapons and step towards the door to investigate. As soon as they pass the cart, Goldpetal draws his scimitar to pursue them. One ratman steps inside, while the other looks in from the door way. Chuck turns and attacks the one which steps through the door, and kills him. The other one tries to slash at Chuck from the door, but hits the doorframe instead. Chuck turns to SySy to swing again, but when he swings at her, he slips and falls to the ground, barely hanging on to his weapons. As Chuck falls, clearing her field of fire, Delonia casts burning hands on the three surviving ratmen. Jets of flame spray from her fingers, scorching each of them. Eltron screams in pain and collapses to the floor, and the ratman outside the door dies as well. SySy, blinded and burned, yells, “I surrender!  Please, spare my life!”Goldpetal, outside, couldn’t hear her. He rushes through the door, unaware, and swings at SySy with his scimitar. Paks leaps forward to parry his blow with her long sword. “Hold!” Paks yells in a commanding voice. When Goldpetal relents, Paks takes her sword and puts it to SySy’s throat. “Don’t speak, don’t move, don’t look at me funny,” she growls in SySy’s ear.Milo runs to the door of the house. “Miriel,” he calls quietly. “Get inside and close the door!” Miriel, still sitting in the cart, is watching the ratmen in the fields. None of them seem to have noticed anything strange, so she walks casually over to the house, enters it, and shuts the door behind her.Inside, Chuck improvises a blindfold and a gag, and manacles SySy with her hands behind her back.“Let’s take her back to Grilliam,” Miriel says.“Yes,” Milo agrees quickly.“We’re in good shape,” Paks says. “Do we want to clear out this place?” Goldpetal says, “Do we know we knocked out the leaders?” “I think so,” Paks says.Milo asks, “Do we want to take that chance?” “Let’s get ’em while we can,” Paks says.“If we stay,” Miriel says, “We should question SySy to find out about the defenses here.” Paks shakes her head. “We can’t trust what she would tell us, and she might try to cast a spell.” “Why press on?” Delonia asks. “We got what we came for.”“I want to kill as many as we can,” Paks says.“As do I,” Goldpetal says firmly. “They’re unnatural.” “There will be fewer chasing us,” Paks points out.Milo glances at the door, a clear reminder that time is precious. “Let’s vote,” he suggests. “I vote we leave immediately.”“So do I,” Miriel says.“Me too,” Chuck adds.Delonia adds, “And I.”It’s clear from their shaking heads that Goldpetal and Paks do not agree, but Milo says, “That makes it four to two.”“Three to two,” Chuck corrects. “You don’t get a vote.” “Very well,” Paks says. She steps over to search Eltron, SySy, and the dead ratman. She finds some vials in a pouch and two rings on SySy. The rings are both silver; one has a gold circle mounted on it. She also finds three polished rocks and some spell components, which she takes away. Eltron has forty silver pieces and nothing else on him, even weapons. While Paks searches the bodies, Chuck examines the far wall, with the suspicious knotholes. He finds a secret door, and figures out how to open it. Milo turns to Delonia. “We voted to leave,” he says, and gestures to SySy. “Help me get her in the cart.” Delonia glances at Paks, but nods, and tells him, “Okay, give me your cloak.” Behind the secret door, Chuck sees a small standing area, with a ladder going down. He stares down into the darkness below. Delonia helps Milo get SySy wrapped in the cloak, looking like a large parcel. Miriel calls, “Chuck, shut that door. Block it, and come out with us.” She looks around at the rest of us, and says, “We’ll have to hurry.” SySy struggles and makes some noises, until Paks puts a blade to her throat. We ready ourselves at the front door for the dash to the cart.Miriel throws open the door, and Milo and Delonia carry SySy outside. The slaves in the field turn to look at us. One of the ratmen herding the horse rats, seeing “slaves” leaving with us, becomes suspicious. He yells to us, “What’s going on?”Paks yells back, “She gave us a rug!” She still has her long sword out, pointing at the bundle.The ratmen don’t buy it. They attack.Milo drops SySy’s feet, and runs towards the charging Slytherin. He throws a dart at the leader, killing it with a perfect shot through the eye. As the second reaches him, Paks interposes herself, blocking his blow, but their first cross of swords unbalances her, and he knocks her to the ground. He is quick to capitalize, hitting her while she’s down, and injuring her badly. The ratman shouts something in Slytherin with a commanding voice, and the largest three horserats raise their heads. As the rest of the group step out of the house, the three horserats charge to attack. The slaves look like they’re in shock.Chuck draws his bow, and shoots at the ratman above Paks. He hits it in the side, and it yells a battle cry, enraged. Miriel guards Chuck’s back, putting her back to the outside wall of the house and watching to see if reinforcements arrive, either from the slaves or from the other buildings. Goldpetal comes out and casts entangle at the horserats and slaves. The grasses come alive, firmly wrapping two of the horserats, and all but one of the slaves. The last slave runs for the hills.Delonia is still carrying SySy by the shoulders, dragging her to the edge of the cart. Once there, she finds that she can’t lift the bound rat woman alone. “Someone help me get SySy into the cart!” she shouts.The leading horserat charges clear of the entangled area. It leaps into the air and lands on Milo, pinning him beneath its horse-sized body and biting him. He is badly mauled, and lies unconscious and bleeding on the ground. Miriel runs over to Delonia and tells her, over the sounds of battle, “Drop her! Get that rat off of Milo so I can heal him!”Delonia responds, “Convince the slaves to help us!” “In the name of Madriel,” Miriel calls to the slaves, “Join us!” They are firmly entangled, and look very frightened; none come to our aid.As Paks, badly wounded, staggers to her feet, five more ratmen come running out of the house behind us. They, too, bear the wickedly curving scimitars which have become all too familiar. Paks swings weakly at the Slytherin who had wounded her, but she is barely able to cross swords with him. Chuck shoots his bow at the horse rat on top of Milo, but his arrow flies too high, going over it into the fields. Goldpetal steps up to the horserat and slices it deeply with his scimitar. Keeping Milo pinned beneath one claw, it whips its head around with lightning speed and bites the druid.Delonia bravely steps between us and the approaching ratmen. She yells a word of power, casting burning hands. A fan of flames burst from her fingers, burning and wounding them, but then they are upon her. The first one misses wildly, but the next two to reach her connect. Scimitars savagely tear at her unarmored body, but somehow she stays on her feet. The other two run around to strike at Miriel, who is invoking Madriel.  Just before they can reach her, she casts cause fear on the horserat, but her attention is so focused that she cannot dodge. The first critically wounds her, knocking her back, and she is very lucky that the second one misses.Paks finally connects with her tormentor, and a solid blow slays the wounded ratman. As she frees her sword from his body, she can see that the slaves in the further fields have seen the battle, and are running away from it, towards the largest building, one of the long lodge huts. As the terrified horserat leaves Milo’s broken body on the ground and flees away from Miriel, Chuck and Goldpetal step to the rescue of the two wounded spellcasters. Chuck’s bow fires at one of the three ratmen attacking Delonia, and the arrow slices through its rough armor and penetrates its heart, killing it instantly.Goldpetal furiously charges the two attacking Miriel, killing one in his initial rush and interposing himself between her and the second one. Delonia drops back behind the two men, and casts another magic missile.  Two glowing energy bolts streak from her fingers, connecting, one each, with the other two ratmen who had injured her. They both collapse to the ground, dead. The fleeing horse rat reaches the edge of the entangle field and is quickly trapped by the writhing grasses. His fear has transmitted itself to the other two, which are struggling to break free. The further one does so, and flees rapidly across the fields.Paks runs over to Milo to perform first aid. He is bleeding badly, and she can see that he is on the verge of death. In desperation, she mimics what she has seen Miriel do, and invokes Madriel. When she says the name of the goddess, she feels a healing power coursing through her hands, and Milo’s wounds seem to knot beneath her. Within moments, he has stopped bleeding, and then his eyes open. He is conscious, but barely so, and clearly groggy and disoriented. Nobody else witnesses this miracle.Miriel stabs at the last remaining ratman with her spear, but she is not well used to the weapon yet, and her miss leaves an opening for his scimitar. He slashes her across the chest, and she collapses at his feet. He raises his scimitar above his head, perhaps to yell in victory, perhaps to deliver a coup de gras. We will never know, for Chuck’s arrow buries itself into his throat, and he falls backward, dead. None of the ratmen are standing, and for a moment the field is ours, quiet. We see that the two horse rats have worked their way to the far side of Goldpetal’s entangling grasses, and are running away from us.  Paks runs to Miriel’s collapsed form, and she pours the healing potion down the priestess’ throat.  She looks better; stable, but still unconscious. Chuck gives her the other, and she wakes up.As Miriel summons the healing powers of Madriel to further heal her injuries, Paks calls to the entangled slaves, trying to rescue them. “We’re here to free you,” she yells.The closest slave yells back, “We were well treated here, much better than in human society! Why should we want to be freed?” Paks looks very surprised. “You want to stay?” she asks, in utter confusion.A second slave yells, “People are poor and hungry in human society!” “We’ll take you to a temple,” Paks promises. “They’ll feed you and clothe you.” “A temple?” asks the first slave. “Who leads the prayers to Mormo?”“They pray to the gods,” Paks says.“Traitor gods!” yells the slave, his voice filled with passionate venom.Paks looks very concerned. “I think you’ve heard a distorted story,” she tells him.“Well, that’s not what SySy told us,” the second slave insists, struggling to free himself. All of the slaves are firmly entangled, however.Miriel says to the others, “Let’s get SySy into the cart, and get ready to get out of here.” Paks gestures behind her, where Chuck and Goldpetal are lifting SySy into the back of the cart, and Miriel is helping Milo up. “We’re taking SySy with us,” she tells them. “Would you like to come with her?” Two of the slaves looks frightened, as though the thought of SySy leaving is terrifying to them “What are you doing with SySy?” the bravest one asks, the first time he has spoken.“She needs to come talk to Grilliam,” Paks says, firmly, but as though it were a social call.“Grilliam?” the first slave asks, “What are you talking about?” As the entanglement subsides, the two frightened slaves drop their tools, and back away and bolt. “Don’t listen to them,” the last slave says, walking towards us “I’m coming with you! I remember what it was like. Get me out of here!” As he reaches us, Miriel heals Delonia, who clearly needs it, and Goldpetal. Milo is still in bad shape, and lies in the bottom of the cart, barely able to recognize his surroundings.Paks asks the slave, in a more normal voice, “Are there any other slaves who want to come?” He shakes his head. “I don’t know. There are maybe twenty-five others.” “How many ratmen?” Paks asks. “I don’t know that, either,” he says. “There’s a complex under here, but it’s very dark and I can’t see in there.” “Are there hundreds?” Paks asks, nightmare visions of pursuit in her mind. “Not hundreds,” he says, “Maybe twenty, maybe fifty. It’s all the same to me! They smell like rats, they look like rats, and they serve us rat food. Please get me out of here!” Paks helps the freed man into the cart, where Goldpetal gives him a packet of trail rations. He looks extremely grateful, and begins ravenously devouring it as though it were a noble’s feast. “People food!” the freeman exclaims, “Thank you!" Paks gives him one of the scimitars. “They will chase us,” she warns. “Use this to defend yourself as best you can.”We leave the encampment with our prisoner, SySy, manacled, gagged, blindfolded, and wrapped in a sack in the bottom of the cart. Paks drives the horses, while Chuck and Goldpetal watch out the back with their bows ready to discourage pursuit.</blockquote>

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