[h2][center][color=Brown]Raethel Norvegicus and the Rattus People[/color][/center][/h2]

The ability to travel via the river while carrying much more then a rattus could normally carry had been a boon to their people. It also made the journey between the pockets of rattus settlements all the quicker and easier as well. But it had come with a danger that no one could have predicted. A deadly one, as it turned out. 

Of the rattus that had been aboard the water craft, only Lutreolus had escaped and made it safely back onto land. While someone might have looked at the curled up, shivering female who was muttering so quickly and quietly under her breath that individual words couldn't be made out and seen a scared, simple being Raethel knew for a fact that Lutreolus was anything but. Of the rattus people, she had been among the first wave of settlers to go and make their first outpost, having proven herself as one of the best and intelligent of their people. To see her reduced to such a sorry state was... haunting. Turning to Lutreolus' attendant Bonthain, Raethel's tone was soft as he asked "[color=brown]Has she revealed anything that happened yet?[/color]"

Bonthain shook their head as he softly squeaked "[color=0072bc]If she has, I haven't been able to understand it. She's just... she's just been speaking nonsense since she was brought here. Any signs of her companions?[/color]" was asked hopefully... but that hope quickly fled from the look in Raethel's eyes.

"[color=brown]We have found... pieces of them. Alongside chunks of their water craft.[/color]" There was a pause... before "[color=brown]I don't know if it was just the fate of one of them or all of them... It's just... It's an utter mess.[/color]" The room seemed to feel colder as both of them joined Lutreolus in shivering at the chill that ran down their spines. 

"[color=0072bc]Do... Do you think it might have been the Pretenders?[/color]" A nervous twitch of the tail and physically having to restrain themselves from rubbing his whiskers was more then enough to betrayal the fears lingering in Bonthain's mind... and Raethel felt truly terrible that he couldn't lay them to rest.

"[color=brown]I don't know. It's possible but there isn't enough evidence of what happened to say for sure. We need her to tell us what happened. But...[/color]" Both of them glanced at Lutreolus in her current, somewhat pitiful condition. Physically, there had been nothing wrong with her but it was clear that whatever had happened on the river had inflicted a terrible wound to her all the same. Death as a concept was something that the rattus understood for they had witnessed it in animals around them before, as well as stories of their ancestors and the ghost of memories of their time prior to understanding what and who they were, but this was the first time that any member of the rattus people had died since the change. It had not been a peaceful death either.    
 
Taking a few nervous steps towards the shaken rattus, Raethel knelt down in front of her... and was soft and gentle as he reached out to cup her face to tilt her head towards him as he asked "[color=brown]Lutreolus... can you hear me?[color]" Lutreolus for their part continued their non stop drivel of words... but despite the glazed look in her eyes that suggested that she wasn't currently present in the moment mentally, physically she slowly nodded her head. "[color=brown]Lutreolus... what happened on the river? We need to know so that we can take steps to make sure that it doesn't happen again.[/color]"

For her part, Lutreolus had been muttering for so long that the moment she stopped doing it, the silence left behind actually felt strange. The glazed look remained but... there was a scrunching of her face that suggested that she was actually trying to focus, trying to figure out a way to describe and put an answer into words. "[color=aba000]W-We were... We were making our way back up river after visiting some friends. We were just passing by a small bend when Muridae pointed... pointed at something in the water...[/color]" Her breathing grew heavy as Raethel could feel her heart start to beat quickly... too quickly. 

"[color=brown]Lutreolus, it's over. You're safe now. You're in one of the barrows...[/color]" He tried, hoping to calm her enough to stop her from panicking and shutting down again... and it worked in the sense that she was only crying rather then devolved completely into panic and terror. 

"[color=aba000]It... It came out of the water. Water sprayed everywhere as it just closed its mouth and just... tore our craft in half as we all ended up in the water. They... They were screaming in fear and pain and all I could do was bend the water to help me swim to shore fast enough to get away...[/color]" She muttered quickly, her tone easily suggesting that she was getting lost in her own mind again before she got to the part that mattered to Raethel at the moment.

"[color=brown]What did? Lutreolus, what came out of the-[/color]"

"[color=aba000]One of those... One of those things we haven't named yet. The big, silly looking gray things without fur that we've seen walking around and swimming on the other side of the river. The ones with the huge mouths and silly looking teeth![/color]" Lutreolus squeaked out in a panic... before she started to softly squeak and mumble under her breath again as she retreated completely into her own mind again. 

Raethel... didn't bother trying to drag her back out of her mind at the moment. Just getting this much information out of her had been taxing on her and she deserved a chance to rest. The creatures she spoke of though... it didn't make sense from what they had witnessed of them. Such creatures had been spied on the other side of the river, or swimming within it at times but... after some observation it was pretty clear they simply ate plants. They had no interest in meat or hunting for prey, observed by them passing by several types of fish and animals walking along the opposite bank of the river nearby that they just ignored. 

But despite how shaken and in need of time to recover Lutreolus was, Raethel was inclined to believe her. Their craft had been completely smashed to pieces and the other rattus aboard... as he had said before there had only been bits and pieces of them left, but despite that they clearly hadn't been eaten by whatever had killed them. That... that was in a way the worst part of it in his mind; It would have been one thing if it had turned out that they had fallen prey to a predator that was striving to feed itself and possibly its offspring but these gray beasts... if what Lutreolus had said was true, they had attacked and tore apart his people without warning solely for the sake of killing them in a brutal fashion. 

Letting Lutreolus go and walking back to Bonthain, Raethel placed a paw on his shoulder as he softly said "[color=brown]Look after her as best you can. I'll get someone to help you out shortly." 

Accepting the comforting gesture, Bonthain was curious as he asked in return "[color=0072bc]What are you going to do?[/color]"

Raethel took a deep breath... before answering with a level voice "[color=brown]First, I'm going to warn our people of this unexpected threat. This situation is already bad enough as it is, I don't want to lose anyone else because they didn't know that these... these [i]water monsters[/i] are highly dangerous, despite their silly appearance. Second... I'm going to find out who else was on that craft with Lutreolus when they set out. We... we need to know who died out there.[/color]" Despite trying to put on a brave face, there was sorrow in Raethel's eyes that was easy to see. Just as it was easy to see that sorrow and pain turn into something sharp and hot as he finished "[color=brown]After that... we're going to call our people together and we're going to work out how to rid ourselves of this threat. This river is ours. It is our birthright to be able to travel along it in safety... and I will not allow some overgrown, tubby water monster challenge that right![/color]" 

Catching his rising, angry tone, Raethel closed his eyes for a moment as he squeezed Bonthain's shoulder firmly... and then let it go as he walked towards the entrance of the room and into the tunnels of the barrow proper. There was work to do.


[hider=Summary]
Traveling via water craft on the river has become a major thing for the rattus people, helping trade and making it quicker and easier for them to get to each other. But it also has its dangers. 

In the aftermath of a brutal attack on one of the water craft that cost a currently unknown number of rattus their lives, Raethel speaks with Bonthain, the caretaker of the only survivor of the attack that has clearly been traumatized by what happened to her friends and comrades on the boat. Coming to the conclusion that there was only one person who could tell them what actually happened, Raethel softly coaxes Lutreolus into speaking about what happened to her out there. 

While recounting the story clearly takes its toil on Lutreolus, she manages to reveal that the assault was carried out by one of the hippos that lived on the other side of the river, which the rattus had observed from a distance for some time and hadn't come up with a name for yet. Considering that observations proved that the animals ate plants and general left other animals in peace, the sudden and shocking brutal nature of the attack on their people (alongside the evidence from the pieces of the victims gathered suggesting that they had not been eaten by the attacker) this attack is completely surprising and makes absolutely no sense.

Naming the creatures [i]water monsters[/i] in the rattus native tongue, Raethel revels his plans on what he intends to do to Bonthain before getting to work: Warning their people about the true nature of the [i]water monsters[/i], finding out just who was with Lutreolus on the doomed water craft and calling a gathering of the rattus in order to deal with the threat challenging their control of the river.    
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[hider=Spirit]
[b]Start:[/b] 3

+1 for being apart of a post for longer then a line.
+1 for being the main character/focus on the post.
+1 for medium length.


Still working on the quest to see all Rattus are named.

[b]End:[/b] 6
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