Valdemar Ratsbane and his wolf partner Shadow, sat on the canal bridge which separated the Dwarven District from the Old Town district, eating Rat Kabobs, and wondering if they could afford somewhere to sleep; they had tried to sleep in a deserted alleyway the night before, but sleep had proved elusive for both human and wolf; the stones were as cold as a slab in a crypt, and the rats had pestered them both enough that solid lengths of sleep had been neigh impossible. The rats had been fast, of extraordinary size, and seemingly fearless - neither Valdemar's crossbow nor Shadow's fangs had deterred them from venturing close to find something upon which t nibble. Val was tired, and almost against his will, thought of giving up and going home to Eastvale.
Valdemar (often called "Val" by his friends) had arrived in Stormwind two days ago, full of determination to join the fight against the Defias Brotherhood which had terrorized the humans of Westfall and the Elywnn Forest for most of the seventeen years of his life. He had asked about, and been sent to the Alliance Command Center, the base of operations for Stormwind's military forces. The enormous complex of barracks, training fields, armories, and stables had been almost deserted, housing only a skeleton crew of hardened veterans to train the city's militia. Upon seeing Shadow, and Val's crossbow and kill bag, they had sent him to speak to Wulf Hansreim.
Wulf Hansreim trained and commanded the Stormwind military's reconnaissance scouts and field provisioners, and while busy had taken time to discuss anti-Defias activities with Valdemar. "Young man, I encourage you to fight the Defias Brotherhood; in Westfall, Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle holds the line at Sentinel Hill, which is under constant assault by them. In Goldshire, you will find Marshal Dughan, who is in charge of security in the Elwynn, from Redridge to Westfall, and north of the river from Darkshire. The poor fellow seems sorely beset, between the gnolls, the Defias, the kobolds... Fel, even the murlocs seem to give him no end of trouble. if you want to help, go on down to Goldshire, and volunteer to help - all of our recruits are being sent to the front to replace casualties of the 7th Legion."
Val had thanked Hansreim, and pondered what to do. He could enlist... Hansreim had indicated that he could even bring Shadow along - but had also said that if Val enlisted he would likely be sent to a different duty station than helping the effort against the Defias, and from the sound of it neither Marshal Dughan nor Stoutmantle had the resources to augment their forces, except informally.
Val left the Allied Command Center compound and made his way through the Old Town section of Stormwind. Shadow paced him, occasionally chasing down and killing more rats - the little - or not-so-little - pests seemed everywhere. Finally, Val vented his frustration - he cocked his crossbow string, selected a quarrel from his hip case, and skewered an enormous white rat that had seemed to taunt him from atop a wooden barrel.
Retrieving his quarrel, Valdemar was startled when, having discarded the rat carcass to the alley floor, a voice squeaked up in a high voice.
"Ye going to just waste that?" the voice said. Val looked over behind a stack of boxes, where a gnome had been hiding.
"You want it?" offered Valdemar.
"Certainly I want it! That rat is perfect!" said the gnome.
"Perfect for what?" Valdemar asked, dreading the answer but unable to resist asking it.
"For cooking, of course!" the gnome answered, leaving the shelter of the crates and extending his hand to Valdemar. "My name's Monty - me brother, Nipsy, runs a rat kabob operation on the other side of Deeprun Tram. I get him meat, and he cooks it in a secret sauce formula and cooks it over a fire on skewers with pineapple, cherry tomatoes, and peppers!."
"Sounds... interesting.." said Valdemar, not wanting t to be rude. He had never considered eating rat - too small to trouble with, really. "But I suppose if you had enough of them..." he thought. Certainly, Shadow would not balk at such a meal, even raw - for her, meat was meat.
"Hey, ye seem pretty handy with that crossbow... tell you what, I'll pay ye 3 coppers per rat, plus all the kabobs you can eat if ye want to kill the wee beasties and bring them to me brother?" the gnome offered. "Save me a bunch of time and effort, so it will, if ye are interested?
"I accept," said Valdemar. He would try the kabobs, and even if he didn't find them to his taste, he had no doubt that Shadow would enjoy them very much.
"Excellent! Come by any time, you and your pet!" Monte said.
"We will... as soon as we get a pile worthy fo te trip. Oh, and Shadow isn't my pet... i am her servant, Val joked, deadpan.
"What?"
"Well, think about it - Who gets served meals? Shadow. Who gets pets, and brushed? Shadow. Who is in charge? Shadow." Valdemar chuckled. "I am paid in love and affection."
"I swear, you tallards have the strangest ideas..." commented Monte, shaking his head.
Gathering a decent number of rat bodies had not taken Valdemar and Shadow long at all... they found an open-ended alleyway,, and Shadow came in one end, growling and prowling, and Val had shot rat after startled rat. They had delivered two dozen bodies to Monty and Nipsy, and had been given a small pouch of silver and copper, as well as a half-dozen rat kabobs.
Valdemar had pondered his next move while they had collected rats for the two brothers; now that he had a secure, if meagre, source of income, he would go to Goldshire and see how he might help Marshal Dughan.
Valdemar (often called "Val" by his friends) had arrived in Stormwind two days ago, full of determination to join the fight against the Defias Brotherhood which had terrorized the humans of Westfall and the Elywnn Forest for most of the seventeen years of his life. He had asked about, and been sent to the Alliance Command Center, the base of operations for Stormwind's military forces. The enormous complex of barracks, training fields, armories, and stables had been almost deserted, housing only a skeleton crew of hardened veterans to train the city's militia. Upon seeing Shadow, and Val's crossbow and kill bag, they had sent him to speak to Wulf Hansreim.
Wulf Hansreim trained and commanded the Stormwind military's reconnaissance scouts and field provisioners, and while busy had taken time to discuss anti-Defias activities with Valdemar. "Young man, I encourage you to fight the Defias Brotherhood; in Westfall, Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle holds the line at Sentinel Hill, which is under constant assault by them. In Goldshire, you will find Marshal Dughan, who is in charge of security in the Elwynn, from Redridge to Westfall, and north of the river from Darkshire. The poor fellow seems sorely beset, between the gnolls, the Defias, the kobolds... Fel, even the murlocs seem to give him no end of trouble. if you want to help, go on down to Goldshire, and volunteer to help - all of our recruits are being sent to the front to replace casualties of the 7th Legion."
Val had thanked Hansreim, and pondered what to do. He could enlist... Hansreim had indicated that he could even bring Shadow along - but had also said that if Val enlisted he would likely be sent to a different duty station than helping the effort against the Defias, and from the sound of it neither Marshal Dughan nor Stoutmantle had the resources to augment their forces, except informally.
Val left the Allied Command Center compound and made his way through the Old Town section of Stormwind. Shadow paced him, occasionally chasing down and killing more rats - the little - or not-so-little - pests seemed everywhere. Finally, Val vented his frustration - he cocked his crossbow string, selected a quarrel from his hip case, and skewered an enormous white rat that had seemed to taunt him from atop a wooden barrel.
Retrieving his quarrel, Valdemar was startled when, having discarded the rat carcass to the alley floor, a voice squeaked up in a high voice.
"Ye going to just waste that?" the voice said. Val looked over behind a stack of boxes, where a gnome had been hiding.
"You want it?" offered Valdemar.
"Certainly I want it! That rat is perfect!" said the gnome.
"Perfect for what?" Valdemar asked, dreading the answer but unable to resist asking it.
"For cooking, of course!" the gnome answered, leaving the shelter of the crates and extending his hand to Valdemar. "My name's Monty - me brother, Nipsy, runs a rat kabob operation on the other side of Deeprun Tram. I get him meat, and he cooks it in a secret sauce formula and cooks it over a fire on skewers with pineapple, cherry tomatoes, and peppers!."
"Sounds... interesting.." said Valdemar, not wanting t to be rude. He had never considered eating rat - too small to trouble with, really. "But I suppose if you had enough of them..." he thought. Certainly, Shadow would not balk at such a meal, even raw - for her, meat was meat.
"Hey, ye seem pretty handy with that crossbow... tell you what, I'll pay ye 3 coppers per rat, plus all the kabobs you can eat if ye want to kill the wee beasties and bring them to me brother?" the gnome offered. "Save me a bunch of time and effort, so it will, if ye are interested?
"I accept," said Valdemar. He would try the kabobs, and even if he didn't find them to his taste, he had no doubt that Shadow would enjoy them very much.
"Excellent! Come by any time, you and your pet!" Monte said.
"We will... as soon as we get a pile worthy fo te trip. Oh, and Shadow isn't my pet... i am her servant, Val joked, deadpan.
"What?"
"Well, think about it - Who gets served meals? Shadow. Who gets pets, and brushed? Shadow. Who is in charge? Shadow." Valdemar chuckled. "I am paid in love and affection."
"I swear, you tallards have the strangest ideas..." commented Monte, shaking his head.
Gathering a decent number of rat bodies had not taken Valdemar and Shadow long at all... they found an open-ended alleyway,, and Shadow came in one end, growling and prowling, and Val had shot rat after startled rat. They had delivered two dozen bodies to Monty and Nipsy, and had been given a small pouch of silver and copper, as well as a half-dozen rat kabobs.
Valdemar had pondered his next move while they had collected rats for the two brothers; now that he had a secure, if meagre, source of income, he would go to Goldshire and see how he might help Marshal Dughan.
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