Thread:Eureka Enderborn/@comment-26005135-20160819210238/@comment-26084195-20160826014553

"Those ar Ratonga. Poor, misunderstood little guys. You'll understand more about them as this little story progresses."

The Ratongan "army" trudged their way across the Qeynos highway. Their leader Trudged a bend around a big hill, and stopped. "There it is!" He yelled to the other Ratonga. "I can see the Palace! We've almost made it!"

There was a wide cheer of relief from the group, and a few voices cried praises to various gods. They continued their march with renewed vigor, though there was still much trudging. You begin to spot that many of them are wounded in some way or another. When they neared the walls, they could make out many archers on the walls with arrows knocked, and several soldiers of the Qeynos Guard rode out on horses and quickly surrounded the Ratonga. The soldiers dismounted, having already taken out their swords and shields.

"Halt! By the order of the Qeynos Guard, drop all of your weapons and get down on your knees!" The sergeant yelled.

Quite scared by now, the few Ratonga that were armed dropped their daggers and kneeled down. Their leader timidly squeaked. "We mean you no harm! We seek refuge from Freeport!"

"I'm not the one who's going to decide your fate. My immediate commander is on his way now, as well as the Emissary of Queen Antonia Bayle." The Sergeant said to him.

The Ratonga looked around, and he saw two figures approaching, one in armour so thick that no skin showed (Ironskin of course), and the other a well-armoured Kerran-- A KERRAN?!

"AH!" The Ratongan leader scrambled back at the sight of one of the Ratonga's natural predators.

The Kerra and Jaukoehai stopped and looked at each other. "Why are they so afraid of you, Murrar Shar?" Jaukoehai asked.

The Kerran, whom you know realize is named Murrar Shar, seems to think about this for a moment. "Well, they look an awful lot like Roekilliks, annoying little rat men that we Kerran often hunt for fun. But this little guy is obviously not a Roekillik."

"No. Still, he seems awfully afraid of you."

"Very true. Jaukoehai, you need to do this."

"What? Me? I'm only a Knight-Captain, you're a General, and the emissary of her majesty!"

Murrar Shar purred out a laugh. "I wouldn't trust anyone else to take my place, my friend."

"Well, still I--"

"You know what, you're right. I am a general. Captain, I order you to go and talk with these things!"

Jaukoehai immediately salutes. "Yes, sir!"

Murrar Shar watches him walk away, chuckling and shaking his head.

The circle of guards parted before Jaukoehai who approached the leader of the Ratonga. He squatted down to be closer to eye level with the little creature, and held out his large armoured hand. "Hail to thee. I am Knight-Captain Jaukoehai Ironskin, and I will be representing Qeynos in this situation. What is your name?"

The Ratonga gasped and eagerly shook his hand. "Wow, Jaukoehai Ironskin! You're famous! Back in Freeport, I couldn't tale two steps without hearing someone curse your name! It's a real honour. I'm Renny Parvat, collector of antiquities, here to represent the Ratongan refugees."

"Ratonga, hmm?"

"Yep, that's us!"

"Well then, Renny, please sit down and tell me why you've come to Qeynos."

Renny went from excited to rether sober, sat down. "Well, it used to be that my people were Roekillik, those vicious rat raiders from the Underfoot. But our tribe didn't like what all the other Roekillik were doing, so we fled the Underfoot and came to the upper caverns of Norrath. This was apparently just after the Rending and Shattering, and we soon encountered civilization, the people of Freeport. Anyway, they offered us the chance for citizenship in exchange for guiding them through the underground paths. We accepted, of course, we didn't know any better. Everything seemed fine, for a while, until the Freeport Militia started to take all of our people from the caves and into Freeport. And after that, it started going downhill really fast. We weren't treated like proper citizens anymore, you see. We were second-hand citizens. We were less than second-hand citizens, we barely warranted the ability to live in Freeport! They even enslaved some of us. Ratonga would vanish down alleyways never to be heard from again. We would be publicly beaten in the streets! And we couldn't go to the Militia about it, it was mostly them doing it! Everyone viewed us as inferior, some considered us vermin! Even the Gnomes beat on us! And what could we do? We are neither warriors nor thinkers nor among the magically gifted. But I just couldn't take it anymore, so I used the one thing that we Ratonga had to our advantage: our tunnel talent. I used the sewer system to organize a mass escape and get my people out of Freeport! Well, most of them. But the agents of the Overlord followed us! We knew we had to go somewhere safe, we'd never make it on our own. But there are some kind souls left in Freeport, people who think that the city ought to go back to the way it was all those centuries ago, when it was more like your people. They're called Qeynosian Supporters and are actively persecuted, but one of them told me about Qeynos. You and Freeport are constantly at odds! And we were told of a hero there who protects the innocent, and who hates Overlord D'lere above all else. If you need proof, just look at us! Almost defenseless, hungry and tired, and injured. We have been running almost nonstop, for fear that the agents of Freeport will find us. We seek sanctuary within the walls. Please, we have nowhere else to go."

Jaukoehai knelt and stared at the pleading-eyed Ratonga for several moments, then he stood up and looked around at the Qeynos Guard forces surrounding the group. "Alright men, listen up! You, go into the city, and tell them to ssend out lots of tents and bedrolls. You! Go to the Temple of Life and tell them to send healers out here, post-haste! Run, man! The rest of you! I want a perimeter set up around the Ratonga camp, each guard two meters apart, watch for anything suspicious, especially anything Freeportian. And you, Renny. Pick four other Ratonga and come with me. We will discuss this matter further with her majesty."

The Sergeant approached Jaukoehai. "Sir, please forgive my boldness, but are you certain this is the wisest course of action? This could be a Freeport trick."

"I know, sergeant. That's why I'm not letting them into the city, and I stationed the Guard outside of their camp to look for anything suspicious. From beyond the camp, or from within. I will also have the archers keep a very close eye out, and I will be with the Ratonga delegation the whole way."

"Very well captain, my apologies."

"No need to apologize, sergeant. Carry on."

"Yes, sir!"

(I'll post the rest later.)