[color=silver][center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjk2LmNiYzZjNi5VbUYwY3cuMA/priestacy.regular.webp[/img][/center][s][/s]
[i]"Defend home, then return, then feed."[/i]

Defend home. Defend home. [color=#ffffff]Defend...[/color]

Rats had, somewhere and somehow, heard about the concept of "picking on people your own size." However, as Rats turned towards the heroes invading their home, they quickly realized none of them were exactly [i]their size [/i]— or, really, even close. The dwarf boy was, however, significantly clos[i]er[/i] to them in size than any of the others, and so Rats decided to pick on him. 

They emerged from their hiding spots, spilling forth from Muste's person like pestilential magic missiles, the illithid's suggestion repeating in their minds like a war cry. [color=#ffffff][i]"Defend home! Defend home!"[/i][/color]

As they ran, they found themselves dashing through Schnupfen's shadowy hellhounds — entirely by accident, as they did not quite possess the forethought for a coordinated combo attack, yet — which meant that when they launched themselves at the Dwarf, he might have for a moment thought he was attacked by something far more ferocious than three rats, who proceeded to... pretty much just nibble at his boots. [i]They [/i]were kind of their size, so.

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Meanwhile, in the human camp...

The very first step of Rats' plan — knock over the crock — had been thwarted by none other than Scary Lady herself. Worse, she had spun a weapon from thin air and was now actively swatting at the rodents like they were nothing but furry, squeaking flies. (Wasn't that bats?)

Reinforcements were coming, too, in the form of a disgruntled priest. Rats regrouped, re-panicked (they'd still gotten no food!) and then, suddenly, froze where they stood. As if one, they turned their noses back towards the direction of the Dungeon in one perfectly synced sweep and proceeded to dash off without another sound.

Larry had been kidnapped. Picked off from his feet without warning, he and his loot had been rather easy to seize, as he had offered no resistance. Not for lack of trying, but for lack of stamina. Larry was not in the best of shapes. Thankfully, as he peeked at his captor from the hood he'd hid in, he found the familiar face of their conspirator. Excitedly, he began pointing at all the things he'd acquired, explaining in arduous (and squeaky) detail what he thought each of them was. 

And then a wave of three rats crashed into them.

[color=#ffffff][i]"Defend home,"[/i][/color] Salbjörg would hear in her head as the furry wave tried to pull her along, the sentence repeating over and over in a discordant mess of tiny rat voices (one of them was surprisingly melodic, actually, probably had promise as a singer or something). [color=#ffffff][i]"Defend home. Defend home. (Return) Defend home. Return. Defend home. (Feed)"[/i][/color]

[i][color=#ffffff]"Feed,[/color]" [/i]thought Larry, and nodded sagely.
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