Hello, Everyone!
Last time, after a whole day traversing the Swamp of Agony, our heroes took an overnight rest in Mary 's magical Orange tree. Mary's friends went to sleep and she stayed on watch. During the night, she heard tiny squeaks and woke up the others, only to find out that the voices belonged to a group of rats who spoke Common and stood on their hind legs like humanoids. She captured one of the rats, using her Owl familiar, and drove it in the Tree.
Trembling, the creature introduced itself as ‘Shoo’, a ‘diplomat for the Moon Rats’, and claimed that the rats’ army was just waiting outside, ready to attack.
“T-the r-retaliation of t-the Moon Rats will be swift and ru-ruthless!” the rat squeaked, trembling in the owl’s talons.
Mary smiled to herself. She knew about the Moon Rats. They were in a book that she’d read a long time ago, but the article was so weird and fantastical that she’d thought they were just a bedtime story!
The Moon Rats were something like werewolves… but it wasn't their appearance that was connected to the moon phases. Instead, it was their intelligence, and it waxed and waned during the month. The bigger the moon got, the smarter the rats became. During the new moon, they became as dull as ordinary rodents. According to the books, they had special cages in the middle of their villages, to keep themselves locked up during their most vulnerable phases. When the moon would start growing again, they'd get smart enough to unlock themselves, and would spend the remainder of the month free.
"You-you're in our t-territory," the rat repeated, raising its head from Atti's grip. "You s-should back d-down! Our… our army–"
It didn't finish. Agatha leaned down towards it. She was following its movements with head slightly cocked and tail vigorously whipping around.
She seemed hungry.
“We're just passing through," Bruno intervened. "We don't want any trouble." He, too, leaned towards the rat. "Do you?"
It shuddered and tried to squirm out of Atti's talons.
"Calm down, or I'll eat you," Agatha said.
Outside of the dome, there was some shuffling and a few squeaky voices. The rat's friends had gathered their courage to come closer and eavesdrop on the conversation. "Oooh, Shoo!" they cried out. "Poor Shoo! He's done for!”
"She won't eat you!" Mary insisted, still hoping to calm the rat down.
"Yeah, no," Bruno said. "If he doesn't calm down we will let Agatha eat him."
"No, we won't!" Mary turned to the rat. "We'll let you go, just promise not to run!"
"Don't run! Don't!" the rats outside the dome advised.
Shoo nodded, still looking petrified. Mary made Atti release him and felt the owl's disappointment. It may have been just a paper origami, but the spirit inside was that of a real predator.
The rat slowly stood up, dusted himself off and, seeing that nobody rushed to attack or eat him, puffed up his chest and cleared his throat.
"So, as I already said," he said, "my name is Shoo and I'm a diplomat for the Moon Rats. You did well to release me, as this shows your good will towards my people, and that'll make our armies stand down."
Mary looked at it somewhat jovially. She'd seen what the rat was referring to as 'their armies'. Atti had scattered them with just one swoop. But she could understand why the creature was lying. She'd done a similar thing in Nurvureem's lair.
"You said you needed our help," she said as calmly as she could.
"N-no, we don't!" Shoo said, giving himself an air of importance.
"All right," Bruno shrugged. "We won't be helping you then."
Shoo looked flustered. He lowered his muzzle and mumbled with the side of its mouth "Well, we won't say 'no' if you really insisted…"
"We're listening."
"There's this monster…" he said. "It destroyed our village. Stepped right on it as if it was nothing, and flattened it to the ground. Twice!"
"Erm… Did you make the second village in the same place as the first?" Mary said, barely holding in a smile.
The rat glared at her. "No," he said. "We're not stupid!"
"Could have fooled me," Agatha mouthed.
"So, what do you need?" Bruno said.
"A new home, obviously!" the rat said.
Mary saw the dwarf's eyes light up.
"How do your homes usually look?" he asked.
"They're platforms on the trees," Shoo said.
"Like this one?" Bruno said, gesturing to the one he'd made with his spell. "You can use it after we leave tomorrow."
Shoo looked at it with a badly disguised desire. He patted it with his leg, pretend-assessing it, and clicked his tongue.
"It’s not perfect… bit it'll do," he said.
He looked like he was trying very hard to still seem important and not-at-all in need of help. Mary appreciated that none of her friends called his bluff, because he looked adorable.
"I can make another platform, too, just like this one, only a few yards away, so that you'd have a spare one in case the big creature comes back."
There was a choir of excited little voices from outside of the dome. "Say yes!" they squealed. "Say YES!!!"
"I miiight take your offer," Shoo said non-commitedly. "If you insist."
Bruno grinned.
After the second platform was magically constructed, Shoo seemed to warm-up to the group ("What would you say to staying here forever?" he had asked Bruno. "We can use your abilities in the future.")
He relaxed and even sat down with his little feet folded under his tiny body.Mary and the others used the opportunity to ask him about any dangerous or strange creatures roaming around the swamp.
"You know, we Moon Rats are your only defence against the monsters of Terpesh," he said. "Y'all will be in great trouble if it weren't for us."
He explained that the Terpesh people had dug tunnels all over the world, and could move freely underground to attack anyone from below.
“I haven't personally seen those tunnels,” he said non-committally, “but everyone knows they’re there.”
At first Mary didn't think much about his words – they sounded too much like empty boasting. But when he started listing the creatures that allegedly lived under the earth, she was suddenly reminded of the Underdark. Shoo described Carrion Crawlers and Bulettes, dark elves and dark dwarves, giant spiders and monsters with pincers, and 'brains'. The goblins from the River-folk tribe had mentioned 'brains', too. They'd said that ‘they’ were too dangerous to even go in their general direction.
Bruno asked about the giant monster that had destroyed the rats' village but Shoo said they had been too scared to stay and see what it looked like. However, they had seen the weeping creatures kill their prey.
"As soon as it comes close enough, it shoots out a long blade from under its cloak and strings you riiight in the middle. Like shish kebab!"
Mary shuddered. Good thing they hadn't stayed long enough to test that out.
After a while, Shoo showed signs of restlessness. He began looking towards the tree branches, and he shuffled on his hind legs as if he'd begun feeling uncomfortable.
"I'm ready to go now," he said. "And hopefully your owl monster will not follow me. You have graced the Moon Rats with your Craftsman's mastery and it won't be forgotten."
The little rat bowed down and then ran, joining his fellows outside. They squeaked with excitement and scattered into the night.
The Moon Rats are so cute, aren't they? I love them so much! This encounter was a wonderful piece of levity before we faced any more serious threats in the Swamp. Variety is such an important thing for any D&D game!
See you next time when we'll continue our way in the Swamp and we'll find something we didn't expect!
Take care and be well!
Episodes of Mary Windfiddle's story come out every Monday and Thursday.
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.
