Pest Control: The Fat Rat Strikes Back

[Xarkly 17299]

Pest Control

The Fat Rat Strikes Back

 

The fields near Senntisten

 

"That's it ... Elbow straight ... No, straighter ... Up a bit - yes, just like that ... and slowly ease your fingers ... off the string ..." 

 

The arrow whistled as it sailed free from the bowstring, sank into the trunk with a resonating thud. The feathered shaft vibrated violently for a few moments after the impact, before there came the sound of applause. 

 

"Well done, Geoff! You'll be a royal marksman in no time." 

 

Geoff could not help but smile. His elbow ached as he lowered his supple shortbow and turned to face his father. Clad in all roughspun clothes and a straw hat, the look of pride etched into his father's stony face and the continuous clapping was enough to turn Geoff's cheeks red. His father was not an easy man to please, and Geoff's smile had grown so wide that it almost hurt his cheeks, but he could not help it. "T-truly, father?" he asked, half-expecting his father's pride to turn into mocking satire.

 

"Truly. I've never heard of an eight year-old lad making a shot like that." With an uncharacteristic warmth to his smile, Geoff's father strode over to him, wading through stalks of wheat. The boy was taken completely by surprise when his father suddenly embraced him and for a moment, he was simply stunned. He could not remember the last time his father had shown such love. Blinking back a tear, Geoff hurriedly returned the embrace. He was almost sad when his father eventually pulled away, and straightened his straw hat before he ruffled Geoff's unkempt hair. "Come on, then, your mother will be delighted to hear about our famous archer. Let's head home." 

 

Geoff beamed once more, before he began to run towards the trunk of the old oak tree, which stood silhouetted in the sky, which was tinted a soothing gold by the ebbing sun. Just as he went to lay his little hands on the shaft of the arrow, which jutted from a particularly thick segment of bark, he heard his father call out. "No, lad, leave it - as a memorial. When you're a famous bowman, you can remember this as the spot where it all started." Geoff did not think he would smile any wider, but he did. He ran back to his father, with his plump cheeks red and his eyes glazed with joyous tears and -- abruptly, Geoff's foot caught something in the ground, and the fell, trampling stalks of grain as he did so.

 

"Geoff?" came his father's hesitant call. "Don't be clumsy, boy, come on." 

 

"I -- c-coming," Geoff called back as he brushed the dirt from his arms. His leg ached from whatever he had hit, but he wasted no time to investigate. He began to climb to his feet, before  the dull ache in his leg suddenly turned into a sharp sting, as if he had been struck by steel. He cried out in pain before he collapsed to the ground once more. He tried to move his leg, but it was as if something had clumped through his pigskin boot and into his ankle. He held a searing heat travel along his leg, and his heart began to thump when he realised it was blood. He began to swat aside the grain in a frenzy to see what had grabbed his leg, but it was then that Geoff noticed the ground seemed ... shake. "F-f-father! Father!" Geoff screamed through the lump in his throat.

 

"Geoff, stay there, I'm comi - AH!" 

 

His breathing heavy and his leg throbbing with pain, Geoff tried to look over to where his father had been, but the tall stalks of grain obscured him. He could hear, though -- he could the hear the pained screams of his father, and a subtle, monotonous hissing. "Ksksksksksksks..."

 

"Father!" Geoff's voice had turned to a shriek. Normally his father would frown upon something like this as a display of femininity, but even that thought did not concern Geoff. There came no answer, though; the screams had stopped, but the hissing remained. And it grew louder. Geoff's knuckles clawed at the shaking earth, out of both pain and fear, and he simply watched as grey shapes appeared around him, snaking through the stalks of wheat and erupting from the ground. They swarmed his body. 

 

As the sun dipped below the horizon and invited an array of starry constellations to the Marnan sky, silvery moonlight lit the wheat field, where the oak tree stood with the arrow embedded in its bark, and a small bow lay alone amidst the wheat, marking the spot where a boy once enjoyed a few minutes of happiness before he succumbed to the Silverfish.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Following the actions of a certain alchemist by the bridge outside Marna, Silverfish have now infested the fields, forests and perhaps even the towns of Marna, Haense and Sutica. These stone and earth-eating rodents pose a threat to anyone who has the misfortune to stumble upon them, and, if left unchecked, their numbers may grow exponentially. The pests have made nests near the capital towns of Marna, Haense and Sutica. If you or your group wants to tackle the threat, message Xarkly in-game or on discord (Conor#8203) to arrange a time for an event to hunt them down and exterminate them.

 

Sutica

 

 

Marna

 

 

Haense

 

 

[LeoRabbit99 360]

((Very impressive event, not so "epic" like most most others. I'll be looking for this one.))

[Arkelos 1027]

 

[TheRougePhoenix 6]

Catchy 

[Xarkly 17299]

The Haense nest has been exterminated!

[Xarkly 17299]

The Marna nest has been exterminated!

[Wendigo 786]

((I seriously love bounties, keep them up and going hard or easy.))

[Elad™ 560]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

If you feel this is a mistake, please contact myself or any FM and we'll restore it.