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Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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<blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 734" data-attributes="member: 94"><p><strong>THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS (Part II)</strong></p><p></p><p>He'd spent years in the tunnels and warrens around his clan's home, fighting off goblins and their ilk, but it was the <em>rats</em> he really despised. It was the rats-- the countless, ceaseless, ubitquitous rats-- to whom he owed his tunnel-fighting expertise, his survival skills, and even his identity so far from home. Now, leagues from his family's hearth, out of the warrens and under the bright afternoon sun, and Wulf was still contending with bloody rats skipping around town like they bloody owned the place. </p><p></p><p>If they were allied with <em>wererats</em>-- and they certainly were, he just needed a body to prove it-- then things were only going to get worse. Surely they would already have infiltrated the powerful posts of the government, including the town guard. That's what <em>he</em> would do, anyway. While they walked, Wulf prodded the guards for details.</p><p></p><p>"This captain of yers... what's his name?"</p><p></p><p>"<em>Her</em> name is Shella. She's new. The old cap'n was Forren-- he's gone missing, though. Couple weeks ago."</p><p></p><p>Wulf's grip tightened on his axe-handle. Even through the soot and grime that normally coated his hands, his friends could see him tense to white-knuckled readiness. Keldas urged caution as they were finally brought before the captain.</p><p></p><p>Captain Shella looked young, tired, and completely unqualified. After the guards gave a brief run-down of the afternoon's events, Wulf moved right in for the kill.</p><p></p><p>"Yer know yer got a were-rat problem, right?"</p><p></p><p>"Apparently, yes." Her icy calm was surely a facade.</p><p></p><p>"And this man Forren-- just up and gone missin?" Wulf arched a curly eyebrow and stared her in the eyes.</p><p></p><p>"That's right." Captain Shella stared right back, unblinking.</p><p></p><p>"Yer know anything more about that? Hmm?"</p><p></p><p>"Not yet. I've got top men looking into it." Shella wasn't even close to cracking under the intense interrogation.</p><p></p><p>"Ach... Right." Wulf was momentarily dumbfounded, so he switched tactics. "Right... Look, we need some kind of writ or summat so we can keep our weapons ready. Yer <em>will</em> be wantin' us to continue our vigilant protection of yer fine city, right?"</p><p></p><p>"Oh, yes, absolutely." </p><p></p><p>Wulf grinned, but Shella quickly added, "Unfortunately, it wouldn't help the stability of the city any for you to be walking about with your weapons brandished all the time." Wulf's smile faltered. "You'll have to keep your weapons peace-bonded, as usual, while you're in the city. But..." and here she winked at Wulf, "We'll be sure to take circumstances into account if you find the need to draw your weapons again."</p><p></p><p>And that was as good as they were going to get. Wulf retired to the background to sulk while Keldas asked Shella a few more questions. It seemed the rat problem had been growing steadily worse in recent weeks, and the disappearance of the old Captain hadn't helped any. Now, with the merchant's fair ready to begin, there was a lot of pressure on the guard to do something... anything. Unfortunately, the only lead Shella could give them was simply this: For years, the old bell tower in the center of town had had a problem with rats. </p><p></p><p>"It wouldn't hurt to start there, I suppose. There's an old man who runs the tower-- his family has had that honor for years. You could ask him about it. His name is Turvin."</p><p></p><p>"RAT!"</p><p></p><p>Wulf sat up with a start from the back of the room. Everyone was staring at him.</p><p></p><p>"Hmmph. Nevermind."</p><p></p><p>Shella continued. "Turvin inherited the job many years ago from... his brother, I think. He's got to be at least 80 years old by now. He knows the town well and could at least point you in the right direction."</p><p></p><p>Afternoon had already turned to dusk, and night was falling rapidly, but the party decided to move quickly on the slight lead they had. It was a short walk from the barracks to the bell tower, but Wulf's incessant grumbling made it seem like hours.</p><p></p><p>"I'm tellin' yer, this guy Turvin is a RAT!"</p><p></p><p>Keldas tried to be the voice of reason. "Wulf, the man is 80 years old. He's been in this town for ages."</p><p></p><p>"He's a rat."</p><p></p><p>"Turvin is well known and apparently well-respected."</p><p></p><p>"RAT!"</p><p></p><p>"How can you possibly say that?"</p><p></p><p>"Anybody whose name ends with <em>-in</em> is a stinkin' rat. Trust me on this."</p><p></p><p>"Enough with your paranoid delusions! You can't just go attacking helpless old men on the flimsiest of suspicions-- his <em>name</em> isn't good enough for you?"</p><p></p><p>They reached the door to the bell tower. Though it was dark, no lights were yet in the windows. The tower stretched up into the darkness until it was silhouetted against the moon, some forty feet above their heads. Wulf looked up at Keldas as if to say "Last chance..."</p><p></p><p>Keldas reached out and knocked on the door.</p><p></p><p>At first, there was no reaction, but eventually they saw a flickering light, and heard footsteps approaching the door. A feeble voice called out from the other side of the door. "Who is it?"</p><p></p><p>Wulf called out before Keldas could respond. "We heard yer got some rat problems in the tower here. Well?"</p><p></p><p>"No... no..."</p><p></p><p>Keldas took over. "Do you mind if we just come in and have a look around? And ask you for some advice? Captain Shella of the guard sent us."</p><p></p><p>The door opened just a crack and they could see the old man peering out at them from behind his candle. "Oh! Adventurers! Ahh... have pity on an old man, it's well past my bedtime..."</p><p></p><p>"Yer got no rats in there? No rats of any kind? Bigguns, littl'uns... Nothing? Hmm?"</p><p></p><p>"No, we don't have any trouble with rats. But I'd share what wisdom I have, if you'd like to speak to me. Perhaps you could come back in the morning." It was an order, not a request, and the heavy door was shut tight in their faces.</p><p></p><p>The party stood dejectedly in the street. The old man seemed harmless enough-- but his story was at odds with Shella. Only Wulf gave voice to their frustration-- loudly, impolitely, and incessantly. A curious crowd gathered while Wulf berated Keldas for his lack of action, until the halfling broke them up. </p><p></p><p>"Uh, guys?" He pointed at the gathering townsfolk.</p><p></p><p>A lesser man-- a skulking, thieving, no-good layabout, whose deeds were best performed under cover of darkness-- would have been put off by the gathering witnesses, but not so Wulf Ratbane. He was, after all, a <em>hero</em>. Heroic deeds, in fact, <em>demanded</em> an audience. He stalked over to a startled-looking man and asked, "Who does this tower belong to?"</p><p></p><p>"Uh... uhh... to the town, I suppose..."</p><p></p><p>"Yer know of any law what says we can't go up on this tower at night?"</p><p></p><p>The townsman looked around for support. "Well, not exactly, no..."</p><p></p><p>Halma got the idea and broke in.</p><p></p><p>"Ok. Climb tower." He took a mighty leap, grasping at the tower walls with hard fingers and soft-toed boots. Keldas and the halfling were soon scampering up behind him. Wulf stood in the street, marvelling at the sudden decisiveness of his companions.</p><p></p><p>The tower had a short outer curtain wall, some ten feet high, that encircled the whole tower and prevented access to the staircase that wound around the outside of the tower all the way to the top. Wulf started climbing just as Halma was completing his mad dash to the top. His run was almost cut short as an explosive trap of some kind went off on the uppermost steps. He was hurt, but not badly. More importantly, the trail was starting to look a little more "hot." </p><p></p><p>Wulf carefully picked his way up to the top of the tower. The tower top was like a well, open to the elements except for the wooden roof, and only a narrow ledge of stone to stand on. Wulf peered into the darkness below. He could see shapes moving down below. Rat-shaped. And big.</p><p></p><p>Before they had time to ponder the discovery, there was a mighty rush of air and flap of heavy wings. Wulf was knocked backward and felt himself falling off the tower, arms and legs flailing as he tried to land easily-- with no success. There was a bright light as he crunched into the ground, and when he came to, he was lying flat on his back, staring up at his companions and the gargoyle that was swooping around them at the top of the tower. Moments later, the halfling joined him at the bottom of the tower.</p><p></p><p>Now, Wulf was mad, and he'd lost all reason. He got to his feet and stumped over to the door, pounding on it. "Open up, old man! Yer got rats in the top of yer tower!" He was beaten, bruised, and shamed, but still hanging on to the irrational hope that the old man was somehow innocent.</p><p></p><p>"No! No rats here!"</p><p></p><p>That clinched it. Wulf and the halfling started climbing again, but this time, Wulf jumped down inside the curtain wall while the halfling kept going up. When the halfling was out of sight, Wulf stepped up next to the door to the inner tower. He pulled his dragonskin cloak tighter about him, pulling the skull helm down over his eyes. In a blink, he disappeared into the darkness, swathed in black scales. He chuckled to himself. </p><p></p><p>"Next one out of this door will be one sorry bastard..."</p><p></p><p>Atop the tower, Halma and Keldas had driven off the gargoyle. Halma jumped down into the darkness of the inner tower and set to work butchering the rats inside. Wulf could hear the stomp of Halma's feet on the floorboards, and the terrified squeaking of the giant rats. Soon, the squeaks were intermingled with the sounds of men-- or something in between. Down and down Halma went, with the others cruising confidently in his wake, as the greatsword swept clean floor after floor. Escape past the barbarian was impossible; the only way out was the front door... where Wulf waited eagerly.</p><p></p><p>Eventually, the door opened. Wulf prepared to draw steel... but nothing happened. Only when the outer door opened did Wulf realize that someone invisible had skittered past him! Still, he held his ground, and was paid off shortly as two scruffy-looking ratmen tried to bolt past him. Wulf let the first man go, but dropped the second from behind like a sack of flour, very nearly splitting him in two. Wulf leapt over the corpse to pursue the other-- and realized he was standing outside the tower, surrounded by townsfolk. Blood dripped down his axe and trickled down his arm. There were bits of... something... clogging his beard.</p><p></p><p>"Which way did he go?" Wulf tossed back the dragonskull helm so his voice was not quite so muffled. "You! The ratman? Did yer see which way he went?"</p><p></p><p>The crowd looked on silent and wide-eyed. Someone started shouting for the guards.</p><p></p><p>"Oh, calm yerself! It's just a stinkin' rat-man!" Wulf stalked over towards the outer door and rougly tossed over the corpse with the toe of his boot. Only now, of course, the corpse was just a scruffy looking rogue. True enough, nobody recognized him-- it wasn't as if Wulf had felled somebody's uncle or grandpa-- but still...</p><p></p><p>The guard came running about the time Wulf's comrades joined him. They put away their weapons and tried to calm the crowd ("Nothing to see here folks... Just yer local heroes, hard at work... No thanks necessary...") and waited as more guards arrived-- including Captain Shella. Wulf wasted no time setting the situation straight.</p><p></p><p>"Yer got yerself a rat-man problem. This fella is one of 'em."</p><p></p><p>"The priests at the temple will ascertain that." She directed two of her men to gather up the corpse, but Wulf stepped in. A man lay dead in the street by his hand-- not to mention the tower full of bodies-- and it would require considerable guile to get them out of this one.</p><p></p><p>"Well, seein' as how this bag o' guts is our only tie to the truth, and the only thing standing between us and the gallows, we'll just carry him over for yer. Lead the way."</p><p></p><p>Shella was indignant, but caught off guard by Wulf's wily and unusual diplomacy. "Sir, I'm not sure-- are you trying to tell me that my men are too incompetent to carry a body, or are you insinuating something more sinister?"</p><p></p><p>Wulf bowed his head and bent his knee. "Oh, begging yer pardon... yes ma'am."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 734, member: 94"] [b]THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS (Part II)[/b] He'd spent years in the tunnels and warrens around his clan's home, fighting off goblins and their ilk, but it was the [i]rats[/i] he really despised. It was the rats-- the countless, ceaseless, ubitquitous rats-- to whom he owed his tunnel-fighting expertise, his survival skills, and even his identity so far from home. Now, leagues from his family's hearth, out of the warrens and under the bright afternoon sun, and Wulf was still contending with bloody rats skipping around town like they bloody owned the place. If they were allied with [i]wererats[/i]-- and they certainly were, he just needed a body to prove it-- then things were only going to get worse. Surely they would already have infiltrated the powerful posts of the government, including the town guard. That's what [i]he[/i] would do, anyway. While they walked, Wulf prodded the guards for details. "This captain of yers... what's his name?" "[i]Her[/i] name is Shella. She's new. The old cap'n was Forren-- he's gone missing, though. Couple weeks ago." Wulf's grip tightened on his axe-handle. Even through the soot and grime that normally coated his hands, his friends could see him tense to white-knuckled readiness. Keldas urged caution as they were finally brought before the captain. Captain Shella looked young, tired, and completely unqualified. After the guards gave a brief run-down of the afternoon's events, Wulf moved right in for the kill. "Yer know yer got a were-rat problem, right?" "Apparently, yes." Her icy calm was surely a facade. "And this man Forren-- just up and gone missin?" Wulf arched a curly eyebrow and stared her in the eyes. "That's right." Captain Shella stared right back, unblinking. "Yer know anything more about that? Hmm?" "Not yet. I've got top men looking into it." Shella wasn't even close to cracking under the intense interrogation. "Ach... Right." Wulf was momentarily dumbfounded, so he switched tactics. "Right... Look, we need some kind of writ or summat so we can keep our weapons ready. Yer [i]will[/i] be wantin' us to continue our vigilant protection of yer fine city, right?" "Oh, yes, absolutely." Wulf grinned, but Shella quickly added, "Unfortunately, it wouldn't help the stability of the city any for you to be walking about with your weapons brandished all the time." Wulf's smile faltered. "You'll have to keep your weapons peace-bonded, as usual, while you're in the city. But..." and here she winked at Wulf, "We'll be sure to take circumstances into account if you find the need to draw your weapons again." And that was as good as they were going to get. Wulf retired to the background to sulk while Keldas asked Shella a few more questions. It seemed the rat problem had been growing steadily worse in recent weeks, and the disappearance of the old Captain hadn't helped any. Now, with the merchant's fair ready to begin, there was a lot of pressure on the guard to do something... anything. Unfortunately, the only lead Shella could give them was simply this: For years, the old bell tower in the center of town had had a problem with rats. "It wouldn't hurt to start there, I suppose. There's an old man who runs the tower-- his family has had that honor for years. You could ask him about it. His name is Turvin." "RAT!" Wulf sat up with a start from the back of the room. Everyone was staring at him. "Hmmph. Nevermind." Shella continued. "Turvin inherited the job many years ago from... his brother, I think. He's got to be at least 80 years old by now. He knows the town well and could at least point you in the right direction." Afternoon had already turned to dusk, and night was falling rapidly, but the party decided to move quickly on the slight lead they had. It was a short walk from the barracks to the bell tower, but Wulf's incessant grumbling made it seem like hours. "I'm tellin' yer, this guy Turvin is a RAT!" Keldas tried to be the voice of reason. "Wulf, the man is 80 years old. He's been in this town for ages." "He's a rat." "Turvin is well known and apparently well-respected." "RAT!" "How can you possibly say that?" "Anybody whose name ends with [i]-in[/i] is a stinkin' rat. Trust me on this." "Enough with your paranoid delusions! You can't just go attacking helpless old men on the flimsiest of suspicions-- his [i]name[/i] isn't good enough for you?" They reached the door to the bell tower. Though it was dark, no lights were yet in the windows. The tower stretched up into the darkness until it was silhouetted against the moon, some forty feet above their heads. Wulf looked up at Keldas as if to say "Last chance..." Keldas reached out and knocked on the door. At first, there was no reaction, but eventually they saw a flickering light, and heard footsteps approaching the door. A feeble voice called out from the other side of the door. "Who is it?" Wulf called out before Keldas could respond. "We heard yer got some rat problems in the tower here. Well?" "No... no..." Keldas took over. "Do you mind if we just come in and have a look around? And ask you for some advice? Captain Shella of the guard sent us." The door opened just a crack and they could see the old man peering out at them from behind his candle. "Oh! Adventurers! Ahh... have pity on an old man, it's well past my bedtime..." "Yer got no rats in there? No rats of any kind? Bigguns, littl'uns... Nothing? Hmm?" "No, we don't have any trouble with rats. But I'd share what wisdom I have, if you'd like to speak to me. Perhaps you could come back in the morning." It was an order, not a request, and the heavy door was shut tight in their faces. The party stood dejectedly in the street. The old man seemed harmless enough-- but his story was at odds with Shella. Only Wulf gave voice to their frustration-- loudly, impolitely, and incessantly. A curious crowd gathered while Wulf berated Keldas for his lack of action, until the halfling broke them up. "Uh, guys?" He pointed at the gathering townsfolk. A lesser man-- a skulking, thieving, no-good layabout, whose deeds were best performed under cover of darkness-- would have been put off by the gathering witnesses, but not so Wulf Ratbane. He was, after all, a [i]hero[/i]. Heroic deeds, in fact, [i]demanded[/i] an audience. He stalked over to a startled-looking man and asked, "Who does this tower belong to?" "Uh... uhh... to the town, I suppose..." "Yer know of any law what says we can't go up on this tower at night?" The townsman looked around for support. "Well, not exactly, no..." Halma got the idea and broke in. "Ok. Climb tower." He took a mighty leap, grasping at the tower walls with hard fingers and soft-toed boots. Keldas and the halfling were soon scampering up behind him. Wulf stood in the street, marvelling at the sudden decisiveness of his companions. The tower had a short outer curtain wall, some ten feet high, that encircled the whole tower and prevented access to the staircase that wound around the outside of the tower all the way to the top. Wulf started climbing just as Halma was completing his mad dash to the top. His run was almost cut short as an explosive trap of some kind went off on the uppermost steps. He was hurt, but not badly. More importantly, the trail was starting to look a little more "hot." Wulf carefully picked his way up to the top of the tower. The tower top was like a well, open to the elements except for the wooden roof, and only a narrow ledge of stone to stand on. Wulf peered into the darkness below. He could see shapes moving down below. Rat-shaped. And big. Before they had time to ponder the discovery, there was a mighty rush of air and flap of heavy wings. Wulf was knocked backward and felt himself falling off the tower, arms and legs flailing as he tried to land easily-- with no success. There was a bright light as he crunched into the ground, and when he came to, he was lying flat on his back, staring up at his companions and the gargoyle that was swooping around them at the top of the tower. Moments later, the halfling joined him at the bottom of the tower. Now, Wulf was mad, and he'd lost all reason. He got to his feet and stumped over to the door, pounding on it. "Open up, old man! Yer got rats in the top of yer tower!" He was beaten, bruised, and shamed, but still hanging on to the irrational hope that the old man was somehow innocent. "No! No rats here!" That clinched it. Wulf and the halfling started climbing again, but this time, Wulf jumped down inside the curtain wall while the halfling kept going up. When the halfling was out of sight, Wulf stepped up next to the door to the inner tower. He pulled his dragonskin cloak tighter about him, pulling the skull helm down over his eyes. In a blink, he disappeared into the darkness, swathed in black scales. He chuckled to himself. "Next one out of this door will be one sorry bastard..." Atop the tower, Halma and Keldas had driven off the gargoyle. Halma jumped down into the darkness of the inner tower and set to work butchering the rats inside. Wulf could hear the stomp of Halma's feet on the floorboards, and the terrified squeaking of the giant rats. Soon, the squeaks were intermingled with the sounds of men-- or something in between. Down and down Halma went, with the others cruising confidently in his wake, as the greatsword swept clean floor after floor. Escape past the barbarian was impossible; the only way out was the front door... where Wulf waited eagerly. Eventually, the door opened. Wulf prepared to draw steel... but nothing happened. Only when the outer door opened did Wulf realize that someone invisible had skittered past him! Still, he held his ground, and was paid off shortly as two scruffy-looking ratmen tried to bolt past him. Wulf let the first man go, but dropped the second from behind like a sack of flour, very nearly splitting him in two. Wulf leapt over the corpse to pursue the other-- and realized he was standing outside the tower, surrounded by townsfolk. Blood dripped down his axe and trickled down his arm. There were bits of... something... clogging his beard. "Which way did he go?" Wulf tossed back the dragonskull helm so his voice was not quite so muffled. "You! The ratman? Did yer see which way he went?" The crowd looked on silent and wide-eyed. Someone started shouting for the guards. "Oh, calm yerself! It's just a stinkin' rat-man!" Wulf stalked over towards the outer door and rougly tossed over the corpse with the toe of his boot. Only now, of course, the corpse was just a scruffy looking rogue. True enough, nobody recognized him-- it wasn't as if Wulf had felled somebody's uncle or grandpa-- but still... The guard came running about the time Wulf's comrades joined him. They put away their weapons and tried to calm the crowd ("Nothing to see here folks... Just yer local heroes, hard at work... No thanks necessary...") and waited as more guards arrived-- including Captain Shella. Wulf wasted no time setting the situation straight. "Yer got yerself a rat-man problem. This fella is one of 'em." "The priests at the temple will ascertain that." She directed two of her men to gather up the corpse, but Wulf stepped in. A man lay dead in the street by his hand-- not to mention the tower full of bodies-- and it would require considerable guile to get them out of this one. "Well, seein' as how this bag o' guts is our only tie to the truth, and the only thing standing between us and the gallows, we'll just carry him over for yer. Lead the way." Shella was indignant, but caught off guard by Wulf's wily and unusual diplomacy. "Sir, I'm not sure-- are you trying to tell me that my men are too incompetent to carry a body, or are you insinuating something more sinister?" Wulf bowed his head and bent his knee. "Oh, begging yer pardon... yes ma'am." [/QUOTE]
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