Squeaks issued from the dwelling. Apparently the only one home was the rats infesting the place. Then he remembered the notice mentioned that Setri would definitely not be there. Very good, very good. That gave him license to deal with them as he would. He was sure that Setri's family would pick up whatever mess he left behind. For now, he had a bit of rat taming ahead of him.
He'd considered the ways he might tame these rats. Often enough, rodents were shy creatures, prone to hiding whenever something larger than them was about. Rakvald had to show them that he was no threat. It might take some doing, but he would bring them out of their shell one by one, and then... Pounce! Throw them in their cages.
Well, perhaps it wouldn't be quite so dramatic or sudden. Rakvald wanted to be gentle with the creatures. He had high hopes for what he might do with them, afterall.
They'd probably prove invaluable in several aspects, both in his knowledge of graft, as well as a source of revenue. He could begin a little pet shop of sorts, or set up during festivals to sell them as little pets to children.
But! He was getting ahead of himself.
He sat down in the middle of the cabin, and waited. He could hear them scurrying and scratching at the crawlspaces within the home. Their little claws and squeaks and pitter pattering of feet. They were apparently large too, as he spotted a few who were scouting him out of their little hidey holes. Grown large on the fat of the land, no doubt.
Quacia was a hell hole compared to this Desnind, as far as he could tell. He didn't know what possessed him to stay there for so much of the past century. Perhaps some of the fear mongering of the world outside had rubbed off on him. Desnind was a veritable honey comb of life and life-giving environs. Everything about it sprung with new potential.
Rakvald glanced about. None of the rats were forthcoming. He sighed, and began laying down some peanut paste all around him. Taking a dollop from a jar and flinging it at various distances from his sitting position. The paste he smeared on his hands as he did this, leaving a little taste of it there, so he could further coax the rats to get comfortable with him there.
Soon, rats began appearing, becoming less shy with every passing moment, and entranced by the scent of the peanut paste Rakvald had brought from the market.
He knew very well that rodents couldn't resist the smell of nuts, let alone the taste. While he was predominantly a meat eater, he ventured to sample the peanut oil left on his fingers, and perked up at its sweetness.
"Hmmm!" He hummed, watching as more rats came out to see what the commotion was about.
As they began to ignore him, he wondered if they could even see him.
He moved an arm to test what they would do. Not at all to his surprise, at least half of the rodents scattered at the slightest movement from him. The rest doubled back to grab the bits of peanut paste before scurrying into their hiding places. He took note of the characteristics of the ones that hadn't scurried away outright. They were lighter in color, while the darker rats had stronger instincts of self preservation.
He knew he'd have his work cut out for him to charm those darker rats. But he did have a plan for the light ones, that had shown potential for malleability.
He continued to fleck peanut paste all over the place, becoming a bit of a pied piper of peanut paste. The rats became more and more comfortable with his presence, and were less bothered by his every moment. The ones who had a stronger self-preservation instinct however, would not be convinced that he wasn't a threat.
He set the cage traps down, and placed peanut paste on the pedals.
This done, he withdrew from the cabin, and went off to see what he could find elsewhere in the city.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Within a break or two, he did come back, only to find that half of the traps were full, the rest had been eaten by the rats, yet cleverly skimmed around the pedal, without activating it. Clever little critters.
