• Graded • [Hopetoun] No Evil Star

[Darius Baer]

Arc 721, 8th of Cylus

Continued from here...

Given the lack of sleep Lars and Kirt had enjoyed the previous night, Darius had expected them to sleep in, and it would have been well deserved, but that was not what happened. By the time he rose from his bed and emerged from his tent, both men were up and mingling with the other settlers over breakfast, regaling them with descriptions of what they had witnessed. In each retelling, the rats became larger and more numerous, as did the their teeth, but Darius didn't bother to correct them. The nest had been found and it would soon be dealt with.

After sharing breakfast with the other settlers, Darius and Kirt followed Lars as he guided them across the settlement to where he had last seen the rats.

Just beyond the edge of the area that the settlers had been making use of sat a pile of rocks. They looked heavy and firmly set, as if they had been resting there for arcs.

"This is where I saw the rats go," Lars said an air of pride in his voice. "This is their nest."

Darius nodded.

"Good work, Lars," he responded, deliberately making use of the man's name, because it seemed like an important thing to do.

Then he turned to Kirt.

"You mentioned earlier that we could poison them,"he said to the farmer. "Any idea what we could use?"

Kirt grinned confidently.

"I know just the thing. Follow me."



Half a break later, the trio were walking along one of the trails that had been formed through the undergrowth of a small thicket. Wild animals, presumably, were what had created the path, but the only creatures Kirt was talking about were goats.

"Curious creatures, goats," he was saying as Darius and Lars followed behind. "You ever heard the saying 'the grass is always greener on the other side'?"

Kirt didn't pause to hear their answer. He was far too busy talking about something farm-related to bother with something as time-consuming as letting someone else speak!

"I reckon whoever came up with that saying was thinking about goats when they said it. Silly things are always trying to climb over fences or squeeze through gates to eat whatever is just beyond the reach of its pen. They just can't see how good the grass is within their own pen!"

Kirt laughed at the thought, and Lars and Darius exchanged an awkward glance.

"I tell you," Kirt continued, still chuckling, "I've lost count of the number of times I've had to pull a goat back from eating a plant outside their pen and say 'stop being a silly billy goat'...!"

Kirt's laughter grew, and the pair behind him shared another look. The farmer's penchant for talking about farming was in full swing, and his storytelling seemed to fade into the background, until...

"Ahem!"

Darius looked up as Kirt cleared his throat, and he felt an instant pang of guilt. The man had stopped walking, and it was all Darius and Lars could do to avoid colliding with him.

"As I was saying," the farmer went on, visibly attempting to regain his composure, "I had to make sure the goats didn't eat any of these."

The man was pointing to a group of small plants, no higher than Darius' knees, with green leaves and flowers in a variety of colours.

"Snekvines," Lars observed. "They're all over Faldrass."

Kirt nodded, though he was clearly frustrated. Perhaps he had already mentioned that...?

"They're poisonous if not eaten correctly," the farmer confirmed, "and they can give you a terrible ache in your belly. For a rat - or a goat - it'd be fatal. I've handled these plenty of times. All I need is the fish meat and I can make a toxic mix."

[Darius Baer]

For much of the rest of the trial, Darius left Kirt alone. The farmer had insisted that it was delicate work, and Hopetoun's leader doubted he would prove to be of much use without getting in the way. The last thing anyone needed was him making a mistake by mishandling the snekvines and unwittingly poisoning himself or the farmer! Besides, Kirt had quickly become known as someone who wasn't uncomfortable with his own company, and the man was already talking to the plants by the time Darius took his leave.

Similarly, Lars had other places to be. Specifically, they were places outside the settlement, as he set off into the wilderness with a few other settlers to scout some of the surrounding area. By the time both men had finished their important tasks, they were weary. Lars had found a few other trails that he wanted to investigate, and Kirt had managed to mix the poisonous snekvines with three particularly large veil fish, and he'd sensibly left the dangerous meat just outside the settlement but near the rats' nest, assuring Darius that the rodents would be drawn to the food by their strong sense of smell.

The combination of disrupted sleep and a long trial of work had left them both needing some rest. Darius had no qualms about that, for both men had worked hard for Hopetoun - as had all of the settlers - and they deserved the opportunity to turn in early.

That meant he would need someone else to keep him company while darkness fell and they awaited the rats' return...

[Darius Baer]

Astra was wrapped tightly in Darius' coat as the pair hid in the shadows of a large tree at the edge of the settlement. The fish that lay in the moonlight was significantly larger than those used the previous night, which had meant Kirt could stuff it with a lot more poison than he might have otherwise been able to.

Katara, again, was nearby, and again, she was seen by Darius only. She was fossicking in the undergrowth, vainly attempting to peck at small stones that were on the ground, but having no physical form, the diri was having no such luck.

Darius and Astra waited, making hushed conversation at times, but keeping their words to a minimum, lest they reveal themselves to the scurrying interlopers. The half-biqaj was shivering, despite being wrapped up in the fur-lined coat, and Darius had begun to wonder if he should have spared her from the cold.

Staying up late in a secret hiding place with Astra wasn't turning out to be quite as romantic as the seafarer had imagined.

So it was with no small amount of relief that they soon had company. They had only been enveloped in darkness for half a break when they first saw movement. At first, there was a solitary rat, and it moved in a haphazard manner, sniffing the air, until it made a beeline for the large fish. After a few trills, there came another, and then another. Katara cocked her head at the sight, spying what a mortal hawk would have considered prey, as more and more rats emerged from the nest.

Darius' jaw fell agape, and he wasn't sure if the rats had communicated with each other from the previous night and were thus expecting a proper feed, or if the fish smelt so bad that the stench couldn't be ignored, even within the nest itself.

Whatever the reason, dozens of rats crowded around the fish, scrambling over each other to get a taste of the rotting sea flesh.

Darius, Astra, and Katara watched on as the first rodents took a tentative nibble, before they were overrun by other rats who were not interested in caution. Those ones clambered over the ones at the front and began to take large, noisy mouthfuls. The sight was enough to make Darius dare to smile. Had they done it?

A glimpse at the nest ensured that his elation was short-lived.

There were more rats lingering atop the rocks, peering out at the scene on the ground. Their kin were so numerous that the fish - as impressively large as the catch has been - was impossible to see beyond the writhing mass of rats.

Darius was certain that there had to be some way to get meat to the others, but he didn't dare to pick it up himself. Kirt had insisted that to do so could be dangerous.

Another solution came to mind, but it would mean revealing a secret. After a pause of contemplation, he turned to Astra.

"You're going to see something," he whispered, "but you mustn't tell a soul."

"O-kay..." she replied, the hesitation in her tone impossible to ignore.

Darius nodded. It wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement, but he could think of no other option. It would have to do.

Turning back to Katara, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and spoke.

"Wh-what is that?"

Darius heard Astra before he'd even opened his eyes, and the squeals came moments later.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Katara who, having manifested, spread her wings wide. The tips of her feathers were aflame, and she lunged at the rats, who were quick to scatter, half-eaten chunks of meat in their mouths. The diri strutted, her hawk form terrifying the rodents and sending them back towards the nest.

But the rats were starving, and a few of the most desperate ones grabbed for the remaining meat and dragged it with them amidst the chaos.

As Darius and Astra watched on, Katara used the orange embers of her wings to herd the vermin back into the nest, poisoned fish meat and all. There she remained, acting as a sentry and terrifying any rat that attempted to leave the safety of the nest.

For the next break, the diri kept guard, ensuring no rat dared to escape. And while they were in their nest with no way out, terrified and starving, they were gorging themselves on the poisoned meat.

For those outside, there was nothing left to do but wait. While they did that, he had some explaining to do.

[Doran]

Darius:

Knowledge:
Field Craft: Snekvines can be poisonous.
Leadership: Utilising the skills of your followers.
Socialisation: Trusting someone with a secret.
Stealth: A distracted opponent is unlikely to notice you.
Tactics: Choosing the field of battle can be critical to success.
Tactics: Bringing in reinforcements at the right moment.

Loot: -
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: 10, for taking care of the rats and saving Hopetoun’s supplies (and the tents). The settlers will be grateful, and what more, the fact that Darius’ solution involved Katara definitely attracted attention!
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

- - -

Comments: I loved the beginning of this thread. I couldn’t help but be amused when Lars and Kirt regaled the other settlers with descriptions of what they had witnessed and exaggerated a bit in the process. And Kirt’s kind of rambling about goats only to suddenly mention Snekvines was great as well. You’ve really brought those NPCs to life in my opinion!

I like that you used a plant from Scalvoris rather than something that exists IRL in order to deal with the rats. I wonder if the fact that Snekvines are fatal for animals such as rats is fatal could be one of the secrets mentioned in the Snekvine writeup. Either way, it’s definitely a good use of this plant!

Darius comes across as a good leader, and what more, it seems as if he has finally found someone, if that scene with Astra in the last post is anything to go by, even if it wasn’t quite as romantic as he had imagined!

I thought that the rats would be dealt with relatively quickly and easily after Kirt had poisoned the veil fish, so, imagine my surprise when there were so many rats that you couldn’t see the fish anymore all of a sudden. I like that you made this rat hunt a little more challenging.

Using Katara in order to trap the rats in their nest so that they had no choice but to eat the poisoned fish was a clever idea. I wonder how Darius plans on explaining what happened though!

Enjoy your rewards!

P.S.: I might have added “Detection” to the list of skills used in the review request as Darius saw movement (the rats) in the last post, for example.