The Peace Treaty Is No More And Ferravale Is Now Mine!
RW Abbey: Main Gate
You are at the main entrance into Redwall Abbey. The gates are a a massive, double-doored wooden affair, reinforced with iron, and with a heavy latch and crossbar on the inside to prevent would-be invaders. While the gates almost always stand open, you get the impression that the builder of this portal designed it to be nigh impregnable. The entrance arch is amazingly thick, denoting the strength and thickness of the ancient walls themselves, which, despite the upheavals of the past, and numerous cracks present in the rose colored stone, still stand tall and strong. Uncountable pawprints can be seen in the dirt, leading both in and out of the Abbey. Along the bottom of the wall on either side of the arch, weeds and wildflowers can be seen in plenty.
The rising sun brings a soft glow to the old Abbey stones. The air is crisp and a little chilly, and there is a thin layer of dew on the grass and weeds at the foot of the walls, and on the grasslands beyond the dirt road. There is birdsong on the wind.
Exits: [Enter] the abbey, [R]ight Along [W]all, [L]eft Along [W]all, [R]oad
Zurrgg walks along the dirt road, his new cape over his shoulders and a well-known clasp holding it in place. It’s the symbol of Ferravale in fact as he nears the abbey. Beside him is a marten, Kolur, and he is holding a rolled up scroll of some sort, "But what if they don't listen boss, this could go badly as news like that is sort of...well...."
Ripfang hissses low, beside him is a couple foxes; most went elsewhere as this is supposed to be a quick message, nothing more than not so friendly news,"sssssssssssssShut up"
Leon was on his way back from Camp Willow, almost to the abbey and he had an otter guard with him but they decided he be fine the rest of the short way, I mean you can see the wall, he frowns and quickly goes behind a tree as he sees another beast and frowns, "Great..what is he up to?" He mutters to himself and looks or the best way around the wildcat.
Zurrgg smiles "I am sure they would like to know some news, it’s important to know whats happening near the abbey after all and news of a new leader in Ferravale is certainly worth sharing, plus the matter of this..."He snatches the scroll from Kolur, "Peace treaty....not for much longer" He nods to a fox who has a lit torch with them as he grins, "See that’s news as well.."
Ripfang snorts, he then sniffs the air and hisses as he looks around. Slipping back a little he looks around the side of the road and spots the mouse, he doesn’t give a warning as he goes to simply grab him; course e could run after all. But if he fails he will take him over to Zurrgg.
Leon starts to make a bolt when he is stopped and at first starts to struggle, till he sees just want has him and gulps.
Zurrgg looks at this and smiles coldly “OH this is useful and helpful they won’t DARE fire anything at me as they risk injuring you and I can deliver my message." He motions to go on to the gates and looks around as he calls out "Anyone important around!"
Ripfang holds onto the mouse and drags him over close to Zurrgg. He waits quietly for any orders.
Leon stays as still as he can, but studies Zurrgg and frowns “Why are you wearing that and what do you want with me?"
Zurrgg grins as he answers "This.." He smooths out the cape and the clasp “I am leader of Ferravale now and you are a temporary captive so they better listen to my message I am giving the abbey"
Ripfang looks up at the wall “No one issssssss answering Zurrgg?" He looks to the mouse and to his boss “I ssssssay we leave and I eat him."
Zurrgg looks up and calls out "Some beast better answer me or else!" He smirks "I have one of your own and some news I am SURE your want to hear!!"
A guard looks down, sees the scene, and starts shouting, "Sound the alarm! Some beast get the Abbot or something'!" DoraRose had been polishing her axe, but now she comes thundering across the lawn and dashing up the stairs to the wall tops, axe in paw and sling wrapped around her waist. Rushing to the battlements, she freezes at the sight of Zurrgg. "Go get Magramba!" She hisses at a guard, and as the guard hurries away to do as the mouse said, she growls down, "I am here, and as Abbey Gatekeeper I think I am in the position to parley with you! What say you?"
Having decided to take his lunch outside atop the wall on this fine June day, John sits now north of the gate with his back against the battlements, dozing off. He stirs slightly at the shout, but nothing more - his time spent back at the Abby seems to have made him far less cautious.
Ripfang looks up at the mouse maid and hissses low "Masssster wants whoever is in charge...Chieftain be lissened to" He also has a good grip on Leon.
Leon is not struggling, well he almost made it back Camp Willow with no problems, he looks up at who speaks and frowns more.
Zurrgg smirks, he grabs a torch and holds it to a scroll he unrolls "I wish to speak to Abbot Benar oh and don’t fire or your Master healer is lunch. I like to give news . I am now Chieftain of Ferravale and would like to do my first order of business"
DoraRose loads her sling, but for now she keeps it hidden behind the battlements. "As Abbey Gatekeeper and a resident Warrior I can assure you that I am fully capable of carrying messages." Where is that dratted guard with the Abbey Champion?! "As of right now the guards are not allowed to fire." MEANINGFUL LOOK at the guards near her. "How could you be the Chieftain of Ferravale? .....what /have/ you done?" Fear is suddenly creeping through her...
John wakes, sitting up fully and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. Taking a few moments to orient himself, he stands, making his way over to the gate, having heard the tail end of what the mouse said. He glances down towards Leon and his captors, then at Dorarose, and back again. "Eh. More trouble, then?" He asks quietly, not moving his eyes from the wildcat.
Ripfang just stays still and quiet as he only takes orders from Zurrgg and will let him do all the talking. He is just here to hold on to the mouse.
Leon frowns, he is not sure what the reply from the wildcat will be but he knows it won’t be a good one.
Zurrgg grins "Cause Scioto is dead! I killed him and watched the life fade from him. I took his cape and sword and this, the foolish treaty between your abbey and Ferravale, now MINE!" He holds up the treaty and sets it on fire “The treaty between the abbey and MY VILLAGE is no more. It ends today! “
Ripfang hissses as he looks at Zurrgg, his boss. He grins as the treaty starts to burn.
Leon looks at the wildcat in shock "Scioto is dead?!"
A squirrel appears atop the ramparts, glancing over the crenellations as the treaty becomes engulfed in flames and the cat is forced to drop it. "What's going on?" It's Magramba, of course. "What's he burning?" The Champion latches onto the wall, leaning out over it to shout. "Stop burning things on our lawn!"
DoraRose goes to grab the Champion's paw, eyes wide with horror as she watches the paper go up in flames. "That's Zurrgg! He's.....he says that he has killed Scioto, and the thing he's burning is the Peace Treaty we have with Ferravale.....and he's kidnapped my....our Master Healer. What did you do with Blisa, Ferravale's rightful heir, you monster?" The Abbey Gatekeeper is gripping her loaded sling, feeling furious and helpless as a slight breeze plays with the flames engulfing the little scrap of paper that had ensured relative peace in Mossflower for seasons......
Zurrgg shakes his paw and frowns briefly, the two foxes and the marten with him back up a little, he smiles "She is next, not to worry. Now today I will leave this place alone but as new ruler of Ferravale I expect taxes to be paid, and no woodlander s allowed to step a paw into my village, or they face jail time or death. I don’t even want a captive right now..Ripfang do release him and if they are wise they will stay back till I go...or" He nods to a fox who has a loaded longbow, he grins. “I should get back to my village now"
Sighing, John mutters, "T'be totally honest - it's just paper; if he thinks he has power just because he has a fancy cape, well...I've never known beasts to take a likin' to those who murder their leaders." He sets his elbows on the battlements, leaning forward slightly, pondering what to do. "Say..." He speaks, turning slightly to face Dorarose and Magramba, "Perhaps we should have bows turned on him right about now? Just in case he tries anything with Leon?" He asks in a hushed voice, though he adds when he hears the words, "Actually, why don' we just shoot him now and be done with it?"
Ripfang blinks and then hissses, its clear he didn’t plan on letting Leon go, he shoves the healer towards the gates and his tail coils as he looks peeved at having to do this.
Leon offfs as he roughly falls forwards and almost face first into the dirt in front of the gates. He looks back to the vermin and then to the gates, he decides he will wait till it’s safer before he moves.
The cane hidden behind the wall top might go a decent ways towards explaining why the Champion was slow to arrive to this particular party, but it remains hidden to anyone down on the lawn; from there, it appears that he merely has a bit of a slouch to his posture. Despite the gravitas of the moment, the squirrel seems unperturbed, now that nothing is singeing the grass. "Excellent!" he calls down, ears perked up and a slight grin playing on his face. "Give us our healer so we don't have to kill you. Help was part of the treaty, I'm afraid, and you've just burned it, so we won't be sending you any." His grin settles into a consoling smile as he draws in the dust atop the crenel. "Of course, if you disturb the peace of Mossflower we'll be forced into /holy war/ with you." Drama! His monologue is interrupted for a moment as he glances down a bit further. "Leon! Inside, come on."
Zurrgg smirks "I don’t want help from your abbey, just taxes and I don’t fear woodlanders. Ferravale is mine now and who knows maybe I will decide I want the abbey as well. I will kill woodlanders or abbot beasts...I have killed woodlanders before, taken captives and killed some...sold one recently" He grins as he looks around for another beast he knows is inside .
DoraRose darts down to the gate (being Abbey Gatekeeper has its advantages) and, after checking with the Champion, opens the gate when he gives the signal. She kind of hides behind the door and hisses, "Leon, get yer tail in here!" She has a loaded sling and is more than ready to whip off the stone if needs be. She is injuring her injuries, probably, by /not/ using her crutch to get around. She's smart like that. The wall guards are awaiting the Champion's command! Taking John's cue, some of them knock arrows to their bowstrings, but have yet to draw them back, not wanting to tick off the great and powerful Magramba.
Leon backs off to the gate and rather quickly gets inside no questions asked as he is not staying out here with a monitor lizard
"Are y' actually...?" John calls down, almost speechless at the demands. And then he starts to laugh, rather heartily. "Are y' actually trying to demand /taxes/ from us? Bloody /taxes/?" He laughs again, shaking his head. "I don' think y'noticed - but you just threw away the only two bargaining chips y'had with ye. An', yeah, I don't think you're in a position to demand anything from us right now." He shakes his head again, sighing.
Magramba, great and powerful, leans on his cane and the wall top at the same time, chuckling to himself at Zurrgg's rambling threats. "I'm sure you have, you're a very big cat. But you're an adult now, and adults have to deal with consequences, so you really ought not do- well, any of the things you just described. Like, any of them." The 'taxes' demand doesn't even deserve a response. Why does everyone think they have treasure?! The squirrel nods to the guard next to him, the one with the arrow ready. "Put one past his head," he murmurs. "I don't want to hear him anymore." "As y'like, Champ," the otter obliges, drawing his longbow back until the feathers tickle his cheek, and letting fly.
Zurrgg grins "I can do what I want.....Kolur we should go" The marten with him nods. He looks to the two foxes and one has a longbow and arrow of their own as the arrow slides across his own check, he growls low as he looks up at the squirrel "This is my only warning before I leave, if I see any abbey beasts on the road or in my village, they will die I don’t care for captives or I wouldn’t of sold the badger cub"
Ripfang stands close to his leader and glares up at the guards and anyone else that’s there.
DoraRose quickly shuts the gate, relaxing and giving into her pain now that her husband is inside. Confident that the Champion can handle all the crap that's now going on, she slides to sit on the ground. Covering her face with her paws, she lets the tears for her friend Scioto trickle down her cheeks. No.....it can't be.....
The other squirrel on the wall, John, yells back, mockingly "I'd like t' see them try, mate! I bet we're all just bandits and brigands who've never been in an actually battle!" He seems to have worked himself up quite a bit, though he drops the mocking tone, switching to ice. "If ye or any o' your lot meet me on th' road, well, y' won't live to tell th' tale. An' if y' harm any of ours, I swear to you y'll be at hellgates before long."
The vermin's arrow clatters against the adjacent merlon, and Magramba doesn't bother to glance over at it, watching to make sure Leon is inside and then caning his way over to the stairs. "Let them go," he calls over his shoulder to the guards and John. He's still leaning on the cane as he makes his way down the stairs, but at least he's looking steady on his feet these days.
Zurrgg smirks as he walks away, "We have work to do..let us go" The marten and foxes follow him"Ripfang...now" He heads back to Ferravale...now his own village...for now.
Ripfang follows his leader but not before one final hisss at the abbey and then he is also goes to follow his Master
