Fable - Ask While the Iron is hot!

[Rizzo Bouchard]

Elbion. Midday. No clouds! Blue sky and happy sunshine! Rizzo was going to find a partner or two and she was going to get this contract done and she was going to get promoted to Iron rank and that was one step closer to Adamantite and everything was going to be like, Wow!

Rizzo stood outside the local Adventurers Guild office in Elbion. She played her violin with her bowstring sword and it was a lively tune for a lively day! Just you wait! Somebody was going to come strolling up to the office and she was going to say Hey, do you want to join me and slay some rats and they were going to say Okay, sure, and here's all my gold too and she'd make the world hers today! Yup!

An adventurer parted from the passersby of the street and headed for the Guild office's door.

Rizzo paused her violin playing and asked, "Hey, do you want to join me and slay-slay some rats?"

The man looked at her with a frown and said, "Rats? That's a waste of my time."

And he entered the office.

Aaaaaahh! So close with that one!

So they were big rats. Dire rats! Never heard of 'em, but that was what the contract was for. The big ol' nasties infesting a vineyard to the west of Elbion. Made pests of themselves by eating up a chunk of the grapes. And they weren't coming from just nowhere! Nope-nope! The farmers tracked their movements, and they swore up and down that the dire rats were coming from an old underground sanctum half a mile from their vineyard.

Problem! The sanctum had a magically sealed stone door! The rats had found their own little squirmy tunnels out, but that door was the only way in for everyone else! And it required two people to open, two people to press their hands to plates on either side of the door. Those farmers wanted nothing to do with that sanctum, so they were out. And that left Rizzo and...!

Someone! Soon!

But imagine! Imagine, imagine, imagine! What shinies were in that sanctum? There had to be all kinds of treasures! What if those dire rats were also pack rats? Taking coins--yes, yes, yes--shiny coins and making a big ol' throne for their rat king! Wow! That'd be amazing! Rizzo could steal everything in there, and it wouldn't even be stealing! If it didn't belong to anybody, then she wouldn't need to ask! She loved free things!

Rats were nasty and gross, but as grandma and grandpa Bouchard always told her, "Rizzo, you can't fall up a set of stairs unless you try." Wait. Was that the thing she trying to think of? It sounded inspirational. In a way. Maybe.

That's right! She was going to fall up those stairs and get promoted and get those shinies and nothing was going to stop because she was going to seize the day!

Somebody else approached the Adventurers Guild office.

Same spiel. Rizzo paused her violin playing, grinned wide and happy, and said, "Hey, do you want to join me and slay some rats?"

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

It was his first time in the north. Elbion was the subject of many overheard conversations, especially its magic college. Eventually he wanted to go there and look at any available information on curses, but first and foremost...
He needed some quick coin.

The best place to get money for someone in his line of work was to check out the job and bounty boards at the local adventurers guild office. He only had a few coppers, not enough to afford a decent room and meal at any of the respectable inns.
But first he simply had to get used to all the new sights and people he saw. Everything from the way they built their houses to the way they talked and dressed were totally different from the villages cities and people in Amol-Kalit.

Elbion seemed to be a prosperous city, though as a former ruler himself he wasn't so naïve as to believe things were the way they seemed. Once he got over the initial shock of the culture he could see between the lines, the urchins running through the crowds, the beggars in the shadows, the shady characters down dark alleyways.

These sights were present in Djedi Akhmis, but never in such quantities. As king he was a good ruler, equal opportunity for those willing to work, and those unwilling to work? their were some private businesses and temples that provided for them, but it wasn't his duty to force the lazy to provide for themselves or others to provide for them.

His reverie was broken when he realized that he was totally lost. He was a bronze armored Kalitian giant standing amid a crowd of people. He could easily see over the heads of everybody, but he didn't know the city or where anything was. People intimidated by his size gave him a wide berth and it seemed everybody was occupied in their own business.
All he could do was wander around and hope he found someone who could give him directions.

Almost like an answer to prayer he detected a small child sizing him up, eyeing his money pouch. the pouch was obviously light, but the child seemed desperate enough to try it, especially since this giant was obviously a foreigner and thus, "easy prey".
He gave no sign that he saw the child and waited for the kid to make his move. When he did he rushed the giant, bumping into him to hide the deft movement as he cut the purse strings.

Quick as a bear his hand reached out at the same moment and catch the kid by the arm just as he was about to make his exit, this pulled the boy back with his feet flying out from under him and a surprised yelp as Kalia caught the dropped purse with his other hand.

He looked at the boy and knelt down to speak with him while the panicked child tried to run away.
"Little boy, how would you like to earn this gold? I just need directions to the nearest Adventurers Guild office. I know my purse is light, but you can have all of it if you give me those directions."

The kid stopped struggling long enough to process and consider, he eyed the deflated bag of coins that he had no way of knowing if the coins were the gold that Kalia insinuated or the coppers they were.
After a moment he came to a decision, "Take this main road up to the market district, go south to the town square, that's where all the guilds are at."
He let go of the boys arm and dropped the bag into his hand.
"Much appreciated. If you ever want honest coin you should consider helping foreigners like me find their way around!"
He stood up and followed the boys instructions. The directions he gave were good and he soon found himself at the front of the guild office.
He sighed behind his mask, which gave his voice an unfortunate metallic echo, but he was relieved he wasn't just sent on a wild goose chase.
There was a strange woman out front playing an instrument that he wasn't too familiar with. But what caught his attention was her dark skin, her pointed ears could indicate she's an elf, but that wasn't a given. But her skin wasn't just dark, it was ebony, he had never seen such dark skin even on the darkest of Kalitian people.

At first he was going to accept this as one of the wonders of Elbion, but as he went up to the guild door the woman accosted him with the offer for a job. A small job, rats? seemed so minor but he was interested not just by the offer but also his curiosity of what the heck she was.
"Rat slaying? Sounds like the sort of quick job I'm looking for. How much is the reward?"

 

[Rizzo Bouchard]

Rizzo froze for a moment.

Then her eyes grew large with wonder and excitement. She sheathed her bowstring sword, turned a particular tuning peg on her violin and FWWWWWWIP seemed to shove the entire thing into itself until only the peg box remained, which she clipped to the back of her belt.

She grinned wide and flexed an arm in front of herself--with gusto, as grandma and grandpa would say! Said emphatically, "Yes! Rat slaying! Devious little rats. No! Wait! Big rats! That's right! Big ones! Dire ones! Like dire wolves, I guess, but rats! Little big rats, you could say! And they're nasty and gross and they're terrorizing some poor farmers andthejobpaysonlytwentygold and it's up to us to save the day!"

She clasped her hands together in front of herself and stood on the tips of her toes and looked up (wow, he was tall!) at Metal-Mask-Man with a kind a dreamy jubilance. "The name's Rizzo and maybe even Sweetroll if you have a sweetroll in your back pocket-pocket and I'm so happy to meet youuuuuuu~~!"

A few people were staring. They shrugged. Went about their business on down the street.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Her joyful response would have made him smile behind his mask if he still had a face. She was very much shorter than him, but as he was with the child earlier, he was used to it.
He responded from his own accustomed jubilance with a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha! You are already a joy to be around, miss Rizzo. My name is Kalia, and like I said, that seems to be a job right up my alley. Dire rats can be crafty beasts, I hear they are the size of large dogs in this part of the world. If you're going after them you will definitely need someone watching your back so they don't take a bite of your hamstring."

He crossed his arms as he turned the mask that served as his face to regard her. He still could not recall ever seeing an elf with skin like that. Her and her kin must tend to stay clear of the desert. But what does he know? he's been dead for who knows how long, many things could have changed.
After the moments pause he returned to the matter at hand.
"The twenty gold is no issue, even if it's not twenty gold each. Ten gold should be enough to keep me going for a while till my business is concluded in Elbion."
He disregarded the money as a non-issue with a wave of his hand and went on.
"All in all, I'm very happy to meet you as well, miss Rizzo!"

 

[Rizzo Bouchard]

The size of large dogs!? Were they really that big? And she liked her hams on strings, too! Ohnononono--

But it was okay! Because Kalia was here and he didn't even care about the whole twenty gold thing even if it wasn't (and it wasn't) twenty gold each and he was a Rizzo-and-a-half tall and that was amazing and he could probably lift a boulder in each hand--no, wait!--she did see him lift a boulder in each hand before! Yup! She sure did! He did that and he kicked a drunk dwarf in the face at the same time!

"Right! This will be the easiest nine gold you've ever earned, Kal-Kal, just you wait and see! Those dire rats ate one too many grapes and now they've got us to deal with and don't tell these other Adventurers Guild schmucks this but we're actually the best team there is and it doesn't even matter that we're not Adamantite rank just yet and they're all going to be SO. JEALOUS."

Rizzo whipped her pointer finger up and, well, pointed up the street.

"This way, Kal-Kal!"

An adventurer leaving the guild office casually remarked, "The gate out of the city is the other direction," and went on his way.

Rizzo, after a moment, pivoted around to point down the street instead.

"This way, Kal-Kal!"

She started along, walking with her arms swinging in big sweeping motions back and forth.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Her antics made him laugh again, he couldn't help himself, that was FUNNY! He had never laughed this much or wished he could smile so badly than now.
He created the jovial persona for working as an adventurer, he would often laugh to put frightened villagers or clients at ease and he got good at faking it. But this was genuine mirth he was feeling... FEELING!
And his body couldn't naturally feel anything, he didn't have the systems that created the brain chemicals that induced emotion. All of those were dust now. But his soul still felt strong emotion, like now.

He easily kept up with her exaggerated steps with his own natural stride and even had to slow down a bit for her sake.
He liked her, how could anyone not? He even liked the nickname she gave him, 'Kal-Kal', it made his soul happy just thinking about it. While he was alive he was far too important to be given a pet name, even by those closest to him.
But this is what he always wanted to find when he first set out from his tomb as an adventurer, someone to make him feel a little bit normal.

"I can already tell that this is going to be a good job, let's get to it!"
But he wasn't dumb enough to glaze over the fact that she just tried to sleaze him out of an extra gold piece.
"But I do have to stress that for this job I won't go below ten gold. A fifty-fifty split seems fair enough to me. I've got to make some profit out of this above living expenses."

 

[Rizzo Bouchard]

"What? Ten gold? Hah hah, did I say nine gold! That was silly of me! I didn't mean to say that out loud. Oopsy-daisy! I also didn't mean to say that I didn't mean to say that out loud! Wow! Is that a bird up there! I've never seen a bird that big before!" (It was a pidgeon.) "Isn't it sunny today, Kal-Kal? IIIIIIII~~ love it! Yes I do!"

Rizzo continued along, swishing her arms and humming a little tune to herself. Blurting stuff out. She did that. Sometimes. Not a lot. Okay, a lot. She couldn't help it! Sometimes she got to talking and just couldn't stop and grandma always said that her mouth worked faster than her head did and you know what grandpa did--yes that's right!--he nodded along with what grandma had said. But that was okay! Yes it was! Because everybody was imperfect and everybody made happy accidents.

And you know what? She'd get that eleven gold and then some once she looted a coin or two or ten thousand from the massive throne those dire-pack-rats constructed for their big-fat-rat-dire-pack-rat king! Oh yes! And she'd have to share because Kal-Kal looked like he could carry way more than she could and that was just the polite thing to do. Yes it was! Yup!

"Rizzo Bouchard?" said a well-dressed man who was right in front of her. Right in front of her because she was hardly looking were she was going and almost bumped into him.

"Do you have a sweetroll?" she said, smiling ear-to-ear.

"I--what? No. No, I don't."

"Then Rizzo Bouchard it is! Hi! how'dyouknowmyname?"

The man glanced to Kalia as he processed this. Said to Rizzo, "Simple. You're the dark elf who took the contract from the Adventurers Guild a few hours ago to clear the rat problem at the Mejeure vineyard. You've a look and a voice that lend themselves to being uniquely easy to locate."

Rizzo squealed with delight. "Do I get paid now?? YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE!"

"You're right. I shouldn't. And I'm not."

"What?"

"I am here for a related matter. This is your carriage. It will take you to the vineyard," the man said, stepping aside and gesturing to the carriage that was quite literally behind him in the street.

Rizzo's eyes lit up, and her smile opened into a grin. Instead of thanking the man or even asking his name or really inquiring further of anything, she immediately grabbed one of Kalia's hands with both of her own and bounced on her heels a few times and exclaimed, "Kal-Kal! How are you going to fit in there! I don't even know! Did you plan-plan this! Is this your carriage! Did you buy it just for me! Wow, thanks! Ride in style!"

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

He laughed to himself, this was going to be a fun job indeed. "Rizzo, you're a diamond in the rough. I don't think I've ever even met jesters with a tongue so sharp."

There was a man with a carriage that hailed them, and after the brief interaction Rizzo was once again running a mile a minute.
Kalia couldn't give the man a sympathetic look through his mask, so he just gave him a nod.
"Rizzo, I can't even afford a meal right now, let alone a carriage. My last coppers were spent trying to find the guild office."
But she did bring up a good point, there was no way he could fit inside that carriage. He would have to ride on the back where the footman usually goes.
While he was alive his carriages were especially made to accommodate him, but he didn't have that luxury now.

He approached the man, "Thank you for accommodating us. No doubt we would have had trouble finding the place, thank you."
He went to the carriage and opened the door for Rizzo to hop in. Then he took his position on the back. His weight made the springs on the wheels squeak, but they held.
He gave the drive a thumbs up and they were on their way.

 

[Rizzo Bouchard]

Stannis Mejeure, the man who'd come with the carriage, watched the very same go down the streets of Elbion after Kalia and Rizzo boarded. He stood by. Simply watched the carriage's departure.

Father had put him in charge of clearing up this little rat problem. He had suspected some manner of foul play, someone trying to put a damper on the production of grapes and thus wine at the family vineyard. But who? A rival noble family? Some scheming, underhanded merchant? Or someone else entirely?

Perhaps these adventurers would find out.

Or they would die for the chance at a scant twenty gold.

Hm. An inconvenience, that would be.

* * * * *​

Rizzo was absolutely restless inside the carriage. Kalia was too big to fit inside the carriage, so he sat outside. On the back. Aaaaahh, but what was she gonna do in here all by herself?

Well, it was a nice carriage! And how! Rizzo laid out on the front seat row and absolutely sank into the cushions. She hugged herself and squealed with delight and exclaimed, "It's so soft! I need to--ahem--borrow it!"

Hmmmmm~~...how could she borrow this carriage? Too big to hide-hide! And she didn't know her way around Elbion like she did Alliria. She knew all the ins and outs of Alliria! Yup! And, oh no, she didn't know how to make the horse do the thing either! The go fast, go slow, turn left, turn right, wait stop, things. She didn't know how to take care of a horse either. Well then! A bunch of new things got added to the "Aspirations for big sunshine and sparkly rainbows" list!

(Note: still need to steal a sparkly rainbow!)

So Rizzo sang to herself as she flopped around on the front seat row then shifted over to the back seat row and flopped around some more and sang this and sang that and then sang a few of the dirty songs that she learned from bards in the Shallows and those were the songs that used to get her smacked upside the head by grandma. Grandpa just laughed whenever she did, and then grandma would smack him too.

Ah ha!

The door to the carriage opened up as the vehicle was still in motion down the street. Rizzo popped her head out and rested her arms on the top of the open door and looked back to Kalia.

Said, "I -- have -- a question! Yes I do! Say, Kal-Kal, why do you wear that mask? I used to know somebody who wore a mask too. He was nice! Taught me a bunch of neat tricks and gifted me things! Just wondering!"

A big, wide, tell me more -- tell me more grin.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

The question was sudden, out of the blue, and totally innocent. He'd been asked that question often and already knew the story he would tell.
"Dragon fire. I survived a blast that engulfed my whole body. And so I wear this mask, but also keep my body wrapped tight and covered in my armor and layers of robes to not scare people."

He turned the painted eyes of his mask to look at Rizzo. Actually the mask was crafted to resemble his actual face when he was alive, so it was a good representation of himself. And the eyes were painted in such a way that they seem to follow you under a certain light.
But it was time to divert the attention off of himself for a bit.
"You're a bard, correct? I noticed your sword that doubles as the bow of your instrument. Where did you get such a unique piece of equipment? I've not seen its like."

 

[Rizzo Bouchard]

Rizzo drew in a lung's worth of breath. Squeaked excitedly, "youfoughtadragon?"

Wow! Who was this man? That was amazing! Would Rizzo fight a dragon? Oh, no, no, no, but she'd find a bunch of people, hmmmm~~ maybe or maybe not from the adventurer's guild--who knew--yeah, she'd find a bunch of people who'd fight the dragon along "with" her while she securedtherear. Hey! You never knew what could be sneaking up behind you! Well, anyway, after she'd single-handedly slain the dragon she'd get to dive into its hoard! Dragons had hoards, right? Right. Right-right. That's what all the tales said so it had to be true. Did Kal-Kal get some of the dragon's hoard? Wow! He must be a big spender!

The carriage rolled along and the open door that Rizzo was leaning out of happened to smack somebody as the vehicle went by and the man shook an angry fist after them and called out something derogatory.

Kal-Kal had a question of his own.

Rizzo threw her head back and laughed. "A bard! Nope! Not me!" Then she whipped her head back level with a big Believe me! grin and immediately said, "No wait! I am a bard! That's right! You can't find a better bard in all of Elbion! Or Alliria! Or Arethil!"

There were, uh, some other names and things she's been called before. When she got caught. Doing things. Polite things, for the scribes' records! Always polite! Rizzo never once borrowed something without asking permission. Usually. And by "borrow" she meant inconspicuously touch. And by "inconspicuously touch" she meant steal.

"See! I didn't even need to borrow my sword! Because I'mmmm~~ a bard! Yup!"

The carriage was making progress now toward the gates leading out of Elbion.

"As it turned out, my sword and my violin were gifted to me. By the Masked Man! He was nice. You're nice. Are you sure you're not the same person? Wait! You're way taller than he was!"

Rizzo pursed her lips together and looked at Kalia with big eyes restraining some new form of brimming curiosity. "Are you ever gonna take that mask off? The Masked Man never did. He just showed up and was nice and disappeared. Never saw him again. Do you do that a lot, Kal-Kal? Show up for people and disappear?"

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

The questions were coming, but he didn't really mind. He liked being talked to even if he wasn't always so keen on talking himself.
"I'm a freelance adventurer. I go wherever I'm needed, but I never simply disappear. Part of life is the people you meet, and I try to never take them for granted."
He looked at the road ahead as the carriage left the city.
"I'm afraid you won't ever see me without my mask. Nobody will. I survived dragon fire, but the experience has left me horribly scarred, I doubt any would recognize me as human anymore. For my own peace of mind and that of the people I do jobs for I swore to never show my face again."

He looked back down at her with his mask, "With that in mind, if you have any form of fire in your arsenal I would prefer it if you refrained from using it. The measures I take to cover myself are a bit flammable, and fire and I don't quite get along anymore."

 

[Rizzo Bouchard]

So he did. Didn't. Never simply, that's what he said. Heh heh heh, Rizzo did it simply all the time! That's what the Masked Man taught her. In...uh...inadvertently. As in, he didn't mean for it to be a lesson, he just...did it. One day. And Rizzo liked him. She really did. He was kinda like a father to her and then one day poof he was gone.

She. She missed him. The Masked Man.

But.

But everything was going to be alright! Yes! Rizzo never let herself be down for long once the Masked Man left. Yup! She got past it and then she opened her eyes and you know what, she saw the sunshine and the starlight whenever and wherever she could and that made everything all better!

And Kal-Kal said she wouldn't ever see him without his mask. That sounded like a challenge! Yes it did! But how could she steal--ahem--borrow it? Could she even reach it? Maybe ask-ask him a question that she would only (hehheheh) whisper in his ear and when he bent down and hear it...SNATCH.

Rizzo couldn't hide her grin, thinking about those possibilities.

Oh, and the fire thing!

Rizzo went to make a gesture with her hands, forgetting that she was leaning out the open door of a moving carriage, almost fell, recovered with a quick scrambling for a grip again, thennnnn~~ decided it best to talk without gesturing.

"Fire? Me! Hahaha, no! Never! Rest assured, Kal-Kal, I would never have accidentally set old man Gimple's clothier in Alliria on fire by playing around with a scroll I tactically acquired from a passing pyromancer. Nope! That wasn't me! I was sound-sound asleep at the time! You can ask grandma or grandpa Bouchard about it anytime. Yup!"

The carriage cleared the perimeter walls of Elbion and the fields adjacent to the city, the wealthy farming land under the parasol of Elbion's protection, came into view. They would be approaching the Mejeure vineyard soon enough.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

There were holes in her logic, but it was a bit hard to tell if she was serious or if her overdone explanations were just another one of her antics. The carriage passed out of the city and they were traveling along a cobble stone road. It wasn't long before they were traveling along the edge of a huge vineyard, the estate could be seen up ahead.

"There's the winery. I suppose since we're working together I should let you know, I'm a bit of a mage myself. I doubt we would need magic if we're dealing with dire rats, but if there comes a need for me to use magic I want you to be prepared to follow my instructions. Otherwise, I think you should take point once the hunt begins, I'll watch your back."

As they pulled up to the walled property the gates swung open to allow them entry. Once the carriage came to a stop before the front steps of the estate Kalia stepped off the back of the carriage, the entire thing groaning as if relieved he was no longer weighing it down.

He brushed some road dust off of himself before he stood at the bottom of the steps, regarding the exotic mansion.
It was nothing close to the glory of his own palace, but it wasn't fair to compare a mansion with a palace. Still, it was a nice place.

 

[Rizzo Bouchard]

"Yes! Don't you worry there, Kal-Kal! I'll watch your back and nothing untoward will happen at all and you'll come back with your mask and your coin purse both intact and still on your person! Wait. Um. No, the other way around. Andforgetthatlastpart. Hahaha! Oopsy-daisy, I sometimes get things backwards. Like that. Yup. Happens! You'll watch my back! That's right!"

Rizzo hopped out of the carriage and planted her fists firmly on her hips and puffed her chest and smiled triumphantly as they stood before the estate of the Mejeure vineyard. Some of the farmhands were among the grapevines, but another man--a hard-working and earnest man by the look of him--stepped out of the estate once the carriage had come to a stop. He stepped down the porch steps and held his wide-brimmed field hat in both hands.

The farmer said, "You're the adventurers?"

"Yes! Yes, we are!"

"Well, that's good. That's quite good. I was beginning to worry that--"

A rat--a dire rat the size of a modest dog--squirmed out from underneath the porch steps and scurried and BIT the farmer right on the ankle. The farmer gave out a sharp cry, shook his leg frantically, but the dire rat held on viciously.

Rizzo shrieked. Fumbled for her bowstring sword.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

In two steps Kalia had ascended the porch steps and took hold of the rat by its neck. He held it down and grabbed it by the jaws, using his superior strength to force the clamped teeth open and off the farmers leg. The man limped back as the rat continued to squirm under Kalia's massive hand.

Kalia didn't kill it immediately. He examined the creature. It was clearly in panic right now but the look in its eyes also suggested a frenzied state and not just from the blood it tasted. His voice was calm even in his slightly overly heroic persona.
"Rizzo. Please see to the man. If you can heal him that's great but first and foremost make sure it doesn't get infected."
He lifted up the rat by its scruff, it still struggled but it didn't seem to have any interest in attacking Kalia. For some reason most animals didn't attack the undead. It was a loophole he couldn't cover yet, so he quickly snapped its neck before anyone else could make the same observation.

He approached the man as he leaned against a support beam of the porch and sat down.
"I apologize for not stopping the creature from injuring you. Are you the client who hired Rizzo?"

 

[Rizzo Bouchard]

"They're not supposed to be that big!" Rizzo stammered, somewhere between shock and frustration. "I mean. Not when I imagined them. They were. Like. A rat. But a double rat!"

Aaaaahh! She couldn't even get her sword drawn in time before Kal-Kal had walked up and snatched the dire rat and slew that big ol' beast. But this was a good thing! Now she knew she needed to have her sword out and ready before going into some rat-infested sanctum. You know. When they got there. Right-right!

"I don't how to see to the man! Now what do we do?"

The farmer winced and waved it off. "That's okay." This seemed generally directed at both Rizzo and Kalia, for her not having the capacity for healing/medical aid and for him apologizing for not being able to stop the dire rat in time.

The farmer hobbled over to the steps of the porch and sat down. Replied, "No, not me. That would be Lord Mejeure. The younger, Stannis. I'm just the minder of this vineyard in my lord's employ."

Rizzo raised her hand. "I thought the rats just wanted the grapes! And why are the rats under your house!"

The farmer winced. Said, "You know, girl, this isn't the first time this has happened since them dire rats have been coming around. They've been lying in wait as of late, and...well, they've bitten the ankles of three other men--it sounds silly, I know. But I had to get a College student in the restorative disciples out here to heal their wounds, and it seems another student'll be needed for me. Still, silly or not, all the farmhands are lookin' over their shoulders. Wonderin' what'll happen next."