It started out like any ordinary day. I had heard that some noble was getting a shipment of good wine. It doesn't seem like my usual kind of thing, but I figured what the hey, the noble's probably got tons of the stuff. He won't really miss it, and it would probably cheer up some less fortunate people. Or maybe he drinks it like water and would notice, in which case I doubt anyone would pay much attention to his ravings anyway.

Now, a crate of wine isn't the easiest thing in the world to carry. I stopped by the Backwater Gang for a few people to help me. I figured a 50/50 split was reasonable. There'd be some good partying there that night. Anyway, that night we crept out to the warehouse where the wine was being stored. They're used to river raids and aren't as quiet of foot as I am, so I had them wait outside the warehouse while I snuck in to locate the wine. The night watchman was in the back of the warehouse, so I had time to search. There was some possibly interesting stuff, but I could only carry so much, so I limited myself to searching for the wine. Eventually, I found it, but the watchman was walking closer and closer.

Quickly, I hid behind (from the perspective of the guard) a pile of crates, and waited for him to come forward. As soon as he did, a couple of swift punches, and down he went. Unfortunately, the bastard went down onto a pile of barrels full of flour, sending clouds of flour everywhere. I grabbed the lantern, knowing that the Backwater guys would need a bit of additional light to see the wine, since they're used to working outdoors, not in warehouses.

That's when things went a bit wrong. I guess the lantern hadn't been cleaned recently, as I was unable to get a good grip on it. Down it went, oil spreading everywhere. Well, I know what happens next in a case like this. I sprinted for, and through, the door. The Backwater guys, they're not dumb. They heard the crashing of the barrels, they saw me running for all I'm worth, they did their best to keep up. Which is probably why we're still alive. When the warehouse blew up, all that happened was we got a few scrapes and bruises. We were lucky, I suppose. The night watchmen was just doing his job. He didn't deserve that.

So, painfully, we made it back to their headquarters. They apparently have some healer wench, who came around and made at patching us up. Truth to be told, I'm not quite sure she knows what she's doing. But I didn't complain, in case she was better at taking people apart than she was at putting them together.

Not much later, someone else staggers in. He claimed to have been attacked by very large rats, rats which were as big as he was. I was skeptical, of course. After all, rats don't grow to that size except in fantasy tales. But he did have the bite marks to prove it. Chilled my blood a bit, I must say. He was attended by the healer wench, and either she did better with bite wounds, or he was better at gritting his teeth and not complaining.

He then told us that the rats had carried off a young girl, and he needed our help to get her back. Again, a difficult story to believe, but I guess if rats can grow as large as people, they can carry people off. And ending up as the main course in a rattish dish of people stew is not a fate I'd wish on anyone.

Off we went, me, the rat-bitten Thorp, and the healer wench Lyria, crossing the river in a boat borrowed by the Backwater Gang. They wanted nothing to do with the giant rats, and I can't really say I blame them. On the other side, it wasn't difficult to follow the rats, although I did occasionally have to point the others in the right direction. The rat ambush made it clear that we were headed the right way. Without much ado, we gave the rats a clobbering until they'd had enough and ran off. Except for the largest, who wasn't going anywhere again.

And then we came to a large clearing, with a decrepit house in the center. This seemed to be the rat hideout. Carefully, we crept around the clearing, wanted to get to the house while remaining unseen for as long as possible. The healer pointed out that if the wind was wrong, the rats would smell us immediately. I guess she's useful for something. So, we crawled through the grass, careful to make as little sound as possible, except for the healer, who managed to step on a rather loud twig. My heart froze at that sound, as did the rest of me, and the rats also became very quiet, listening for us. After a few minutes, we started hearing them again, and a few minutes later, moved on some more.

So far so good, and we get closer to the house. And then, another noise. The rats listen, and I throw a rock I had readied to the other side of the house to distract them. They go off to investigate. I peek through one of the many holes in the wall of the house, and don't really see anything in there, except that a fire suddenly flares up. What the fuck?! Did they knock over a lantern in their haste to see what causes the sound of a rock falling on stones? It was disconcerting, to say the least. Seeing no real need for stealth, I looked through the window to make sure no one was there. It was nicely empty, except for burning furniture.

Creeping around, no rats on the next side of the building. But then the side with the cellar access had a couple of rats. No way to sneak up on them. Screaming like a banshee, I leapt to attack the rats, nearly braining one, but it was just a little too quick. Meanwhile, Thorp quietly snuck up on the other one to introduce it to his knife. I don't know what happened to the healer wench. Maybe she got scared.

A few more hits against the rats, and a lucky bite by one of them against Thorp, and suddenly healer wench shows up and begins attacking one of the rats. Meanwhile, a couple more rats are escaping from the cellar, as the entire house becomes engulfed in fire, carrying between them the young girl. No time for astonishment now. These rats don't take long to take down, either, and the surviving rats flee to the river. We grab the girl, and make our way to the river, not wanting to be in the middle of a big grassy field on fire. There we stayed, until morning when we could catch the ferry back across the river.

The girl seemed nice enough, but apparently she's the daughter of a noble. Well, nobody's perfect, and occasionally, a noble will turn out to be not so bad. Still, I hope she remembers that she owes us a rather big debt, seeing as we saved her from becoming a rat entree.