Horde Justice

If a beast hangs from a tree in the middle of a snowy forest, does it make a sound?

If a horde of bloodthirsty vermin is at the heart of it all, the answer is yes. Yes it does.

Voices of ill-intent echo through the trees. A gathering of rats, armed in crude armor and weapons clamor about as a party of frightened woodlanders are lined. Ominous nooses hang from the branches of the trees. A rather over-weight ferret paces about with drunken delight.

Not too far away, a red fox stands out among the group of rats. The time the fox has spent with the horde have been good to Drakki. He certainly has more money in his pocket than working for Dylan as one of his bandits, and the pudgy vulpine clearly has more food in his belly these days. Drakki stares impassively at the woodlanders as he munches on their own food and wine. If they were hoping for a savior, it would not come from him.

Raziel is, ironically, camping nearby at the time, woken from uneasy slumber by the noises echoing through the trees. Suffice to say, the wildcat is intrigued - if a little annoyed. Groggily the feline picks himself up, gathering his sword and spear from the side of his campfire, which had burned out hours before. Blinking a few times into the darkness, the cat swivels his ears, and pads off to investigate the sound.

"Well get on with it then!" Kanezzer bellows, his breath hanging in the cold winter's air. Fresh snow begins to fall through the canopies as the rat's begin to systematically place nooses around the woodlanders necks. An assortment of mice, squirrels, and voles.

Drakki subconsciously rubs at his own neck as he watches. What a nasty way to go. Oh well, better them than himself. At least he got a second chance to live via trial by combat. The fox turns away for the moment, still munching on a loaf of bread.

The on-looking rats begin to clamor with excitement, banging their shields and weapons and cackling with delight.

Raziel follows the quickly escalating sounds coming from the camp keeping low as he approaches. The wildcat's brow furrows as he asks himself, "Who would be making such a racket in the middle of the woods...?" His questions are answered soon enough, as he crests a small hill, slowly covering in the falling snow. The feline is, much to his surprise, greeted with the sight of rats. Lots of rats. And a large number of nooses hanging from the trees above. This...doesn't look good. With as much stealth as he can muster, the wildcat creeps behind a nearby bush, trying to get a feel for what's going on here...

Kanezzer takes a liberal swig of a wine from a wine-skin and wipes his maw clean with the back of his paw. He motions haphazardly to a large rat who clears his throat. "By decree o' Kanezzer the Great, dese here woodlanders are sentenced ter die!" The rats cheer drunkenly.

Drakki must admit it still takes a while for him to get used to being part of a horde nowadays. Bandits have no use for such things as decrees, proclamations, or those other political things that let others know that they are in fact in charge. The fox ignores the terrified looks the woodlanders must have by now. Not his fault they couldn't get away...

The woodlanders whimper fright, some mustering looks of courage as the cords tighten around their necks. At the base of a nearby tree a line of rats pick up a thick cord of rope.

A rather drunken rat offers Drakki a shove. "Nuffin' like a good ol' fashioned hangin', eh?" He laughs crudely.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Raziel is up and striding towards the group before he even knows what he's doing. He can't just...allow this to happen. The wildcat stands about twenty feet from the edge of the camp, his spear clenched tightly in one paw as he gestures towards the woodlanders with the other. "You mean to hang these beasts? What have they done?"

The fox shoves the rat who nudged him away with his free paw and is in the process of finishing his meal when he see the wildcat pop up seemingly from no where. He squints at the cat then his eyes widen, "The heck?"

As the snow fall begins to thicken an eerie silence falls offer the beasts gathered as the armed cat makes his presence known. Kanezzer tucks his wine-skin away his merry demeanor fading quickly. The large rat shoves his way through the crowd to face Raziel. "How dare you!" He draws a jagged blade pointing it at the cat. "It's been decreed! There's no questioning a decree!"

Raziel scowls disdainfully at the knife, but does not move closer, instead planting the haft of his spear on the ground. "I suggest you put the blade away. There is no need to be so hostile..." Yet. He looks around at the rats, trying to gauge their numbers. He'd rather not get into a fight with all of them at once...and the fox and ferret may pose a problem. "I simply asked a question. What have they done?"

Bilk, the one-eyed rat spits as the numerous rats begin to focus their attention on the wildcat, many drawing jagged blades. "Ye best tuck yer tail 'n run wildcat." The woodlanders squirm as rat-guards hold them in place. Another line of rats waiting for the ferret's single to begin pulling a thick cord of rope strung up in the trees and attached to the nooses.

Drakki has no doubt the rats could simply swarm the wildcat, just like he has no doubt that the wildcat could easily tear through a great number of them before he was taken down. The fox there for finds it best to keep himself out of the front lines, slowly trotting away while munching on the bread in his paw. He finely leans his back against a tree with the rats between him and the wildcat. He grins to himself, dinner and a show.

Raziel frowns, clutching his spear tighter. "I suggest you reconsider. How much of your force are you willing to lose because you fail to answer a simple question?" He glances over towards the woodlanders nervously, trying to gauge just how difficult it would be to get over there, and raising his spear into a defensive stance. He's not going to get caught off guard...

Bilk's one eye begins to twitch with rage. "Ye sealed yer fate, cat!" He roars as his comrades join him an assortment of crude weapons in paw. Rats begin to clamor forward, the clanging of their weapons and armor ringing out between the trees. "Kill the wildcat!" Kanezzer can be heard screaming, surrounded by his closest guards.

By the time the fox reaches the wildcat he should be already dealt with. For now Drak is content with sitting back looking like he is too important to deal with this nonsense. Besides, if the wildcat kills Bilk in the process then the fox doesn't have to worry about the rats stabbing him in the back later on for stealing his slave. So Drakki crosses his legs and arms and watches the fight that is about to ensue

Raziel growls, drawing his sword, while still clutching his spear in his other paw. Nothing is ever simple. The cat doesn't wait for the beasts to surround him, instead taking the offensive - lunging with the reach of his spear, and cutting in wide arcs with his sword whenever a closer weapon is needed. This is not how he planned things in his mind...

Blood curdling screams begin to cut through the icy winter night as the wildcat cut's through the rats, their blood painting the fresh fallen snow red. Bilk closes in on the wildcat swinging his jagged blade wildly with both paws, his comrades working to surround their pray. Kanezzer, the pot-bellied ferret, in a fit of fury orders the line of rats to hang the woodlanders. The rats begin to pull the cord with all their might, lifting the victims off their footpaws, the nooses tightening...

Drakki drops the bread he was eating and gasps in shock at the sight of the wildcat tearing into the rats. Blazes... The fox grips the handle of the sword behind him firmly as he leaves the comfort of his tree. He's going to go protect the leader, yeah, that sounds like a good excuse to keep his tail away from the massacre in the happening.

Raziel is making good progress in not being slaughtered - that's a plus. However, over the sounds of battle, he fails to hear the horde-leader's shout, and thus only notices the rats pulling the rope out of the corner of his eye as he pries a particularly unlucky rat off his blade. "Oh, you cannot be serious!" The wildcat slams the haft of his spear against a few of the oncoming rats, trying to fight his way over to the ropes...

The line of rats give a final mighty tug on the thick cord of rope as the final breaths begin to escape their victim's lungs. The warlord ferret cheers with an insane glee, his rat-guards jeering him on with an eerie bloodlust. Abruptly, out of the darkness of the trees, the sounds of numerous whistles slice through the falling snow, strange feathered arrows raining down upon the melee. Kanezzer and his rat-guards lift crude shields as they retreat into the woods. Bilk bears down on the wildcat with his jagged blade, oblivious to his comrades falling around him in the hail-storm.

Drakki yelps as he narrowly escapes an arrow to the shoulder. He turns to run, first this way then that way until finely he brings himself into close proximity with the wild cat. "Dash it all Bilk! It's time to go!" The fox draws his blade with his left paw then twirls it into an upright position. Slicing at the wild cat's leg as he tries to dash around him.

The distinct war-cries of a shrew-tribe ring out in the darkness of the trees.

Raziel turns to swing his sword at the rat - when Drakki's blade suddenly clangs off the armor of his shin...sweeping his paws our from under him on the fresh fallen snow. However; this also has the unexpected effect of hooking the haft of his spear up behind the fox's neck, dragging him down with the weight of the feline...

The shrew-tribe begins to bound through the snow, charging the surviving rats. Their weapons clang against each other and blood begins to spray. The woodlanders fall lifeless in the snow as the rope is released. Bilk's one-eye fixes on the fox briefly and he heeds his advice as he realizes his comrades have been over-whelmed, smashing a nearby shrew in the face with his fist to break free of the melee, striding off into the trees.

Drakki groans softly after being forced face first into the snow. His neck is throbbing and he has a massive head ache. He tries to move but can't. No, shrew are moving in. He has to get away. The fox gets to his knees then forces himself unsteadily to his feet. He begins to move forward again and comes crashing back down to the earth. Paw outstretched he calls out to the departing rat, "Bilk! Help me!"

The one-eyed rat can be heard cackling as he struggles through the snow. "Yer on yer own, fox!"

Raziel only now realizes the arrows raining down around them, sailing overhead as he lays in the snow. He also, belatedly, finds that the woodlanders lie limply on the ground, and that the rats who hung them long gone. The wildcat snarls, slowly rising to his feet. "What. Have. You. Done?" The rodents are fleeing, and the shrews seem more focused on them than him, at the moment...but the fox is still here. In a rage, Raziel plants the blade of his spear in the ground inches in front of Drakki's snout, and holds the tip of his bastard sword against the back of his head. In a voice as cold as the snow, the wildcat growls, "Why?"

Moans of the fallen fill the icy air. The shrews systematically finish off the remainder of the survivors. They begin to surround the wildcat and the fox, spears drawn.

The fox's eyes widen with terror at the wildcat barring down on them. "T-they were stealing from Kanezzer. There were bandits! I swear!" He glances over to the shrews rapidly surrounding them and gulps, "Be-before you do anything rash keep in mind you might need my help here in a bit..."

Raziel stares at the fox impassively, making up his mind. Eventually, he decides to let the stuttering fox live - pending a more thorough explanation. The wildcat looks around at the tribals, once again guessing his chances of survival. Not good, considering how winded he is from confronting the rats. "Fine," he growls, pulling his spear away from the vulpine's head. "We have more pressing matters..."

The spears lower slightly as the leader of the tribe steps forward. "We's gots no quarrel with you beasts...Only the rats." He motions to the shrews as they somberly begin to gather up the bodies of the woodlanders.

Drakki can only blink surprise at the situation. They don't realize that Drakki is with the rats. The fox begins to chuckle from relief. He looks between them all, picking up his sword. He takes a step away from the shrews after picking himself up. "That's...yeah...thats...nice..." He begins to walk away on shaky feet.

Raziel gives a soft growl again. "Where do you think you're going, fox? We have more to...discuss." The feline looks over to the shrew leader, and nods solemnly. "I have no argument with you, either. Though, it seems we were both too late," he gestures with a paw towards the nooses. "How did you know the rats were here?"

The tribal-shrew dismisses the pair of vermin with snort. With the woodlander bodies bundle up they eerily disappear back into the trees. The snow falls silently the corpses of dead rats.

Drakki shivers at first when he is addressed. He's going to die, he knows it, the cat is going to rat him out and he is...actually shocked he is still alive. The fox watches the shrews disappear into the forest around them and the he clutches at his chest, breathing deeply, "Oi! That was a close one..." Then Drakki gives the wildcat a confused look, "Why...didn't you tell them I was with the rats?"

Raziel glares at the fox, and stands with the end of his spear in the ground, leaning on it slightly. There's nothing more he can do here, and the rats probably aren't carrying anything worth looting anyway. "Because I chose not to. And you should be thankful I didn't. But you're not getting off scott-free, I assure you. You /are/ going to tell me what that was all about. Who are the rats?"

The fox cowers before the sight of the beast that slaughtered so many of his fellow rats. He taps his paws together as he looks nervously away. "Ah...I see you havn't heard of Kanezzer. The rather plump ferret leading the rats? He led a small horde of the beasties here to Mossflower. I'm just a conscript." Drakki begins to blather almost incoherently, "I used to work for Dylan but our group got captured while robbing his rats, only I survived, well the others did too but left me for dead, just like that fat rat fellow who I am really thinking about gutting like a fish later but anyway I fought this really big rat and won so...I got to survive and..."

Raziel stares at the fox impassively as he spouts the information, sighing as the vulpine goes on. Eventually, he holds up his paws. "If you're going to ramble, can you at least do it with some dignity? If I were going to tear you apart with my teeth, I'd have done it already..." The wildcat begins idly pacing around, picking his way over the bodies of the rats. After a moment, he resumes speaking. "You worked for Dylan eh? I have heard of him. Met him, once. Reasonable beast...for a /bandit/."

Drakki makes a sigh of relief, "You don't say? Heh, he never paid well though. He's a bit uptight about what you can or can not do as a bandit." The fox sighs, "I would wonder if any of those beasts there miss me...but, I kind of burned my bridges with them after they left me to die." THe fox sheaths his blade behind him, "I guess I owe you one cat. A word of advice, steer clear of this area if you don't want to run into Kanezzer's horde. He won't appreciate you killing his beasts."

Raziel grumbles, "And I do not appreciate rodents who attach beasts who ask questions." The feline sighs, and hakes his head, finally sheathing his sword as well...though he keeps his spear close at paw, as always. "Goodbye," is all he says, as he pads off through the snow, back towards his camp. "And if our paths should cross again, remember what happened here today. And that I do not /have/ to be your enemy..."

Drakki watches for the wildcat to leave. Once he is sure Raz can no longer see him, and only then, does the fox finely collapse onto his tail into the snow. He begins to shiver uncontrollably and whimper to himself. A long moment passes until Drakki once again composes himself. He turns onto his feet and trots off at a quick pace back to his own camp. Bilk and the fox, they are going to have words soon...

This is but the beginning of a presumably long and arduous road, for our heroes as - well as the villains...

Stay tuned for more installments!