The Price of Freedom

[Faiyloe]

OOC: The Price of Freedom sineup sheet is here.



BIC: Valadash walked quickly up the spiral stairs of her castles north tower, her purple cape flowing out behind her. The work on the castle was almost complete. All that was left was the south tower, a good bit of the soldiers barracks which came off the south wall of the castle and a portion of the outer wall. 

Valadash reached a door frame on a landing halfway up the stairs which lead to a long hall stretching off in both directions. She turned east. The hall was lined with doorways most of them lacking actual doors so that you could see into most of them but all most all of them were bare. At the end of the hallway was a door not to either side but directly ahead. Valadash opened it and entered.

It was her Chambers. The room was large and spacious. There were several chairs, tables and couches scattered about the room, with silk and satin throws. Torches lined the walls but other than that the walls were quite bare. “No matter” she thought “I’ll have that tended to soon enough”.  There were many large windows along the east wall  bathing the room in light. She walked up to one and looked out. Down below she could see the slaves working on the east wall it was almost finished. it gave her a feeling of exhilaration all this power at the snap of her fingers or the wave of her paw. She said it and it was done. All her hard work was finally paying off.     

[Maudie]

Frim bumped into a ferret and knocked him over, they struggled on the ground for a moment until the ferret rose and kicked her. "Watch what you're doin', slave! I'll flog ye if'n yew do that agin!" Frim whimpered, "Y-y-yes sir." The ferret smirked and walked away.

Frim slid the small dagger that she had stolen from the clueless ferret up her sleeve. She had to get back to the compound to hide it. If it was found on her it could mean her life, and she wasn't ready to give that up until she was free.
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Ziga shook up her bag, opened it, and dumped the contents on the ground. She mumbled over them for a minute, touched each of them, and finally put them back in the bag with a scowl. This seer business wasn't easy. Lately the omens hadn't been good, but she didn't dare tell Lady Valadash that.

She looked up as a scrawny horderat entered her room. She looked him over as he cowered in front of her, saying nothing. She gave him a malicious smile, "Well, what do you want, rat?" He mumbled a little, not meeting her gaze. Her patience was wearing thin. "Speak up, fool!"

The rat finally spoke. "Er, the outlaws have raided the food supply agin, an' we was wundrin' if you could tell Lady Valadash." Ziga rolled her eyes. "You'd think full grown male creatures would be ashamed to let a female fox do their dirty business, but no. They're all to cowardly!" She gave him a disgusted kick as she left the room.

Ziga knocked on the door to Valadash's chamber and walked in. She bowed low. "My Lady, once again your cowardly troops have asked me to relay the bad news to you. Apparently the outlaws have raided the food supply again." Ziga fell silent as her big red eyes met Valadash's black ones, wondering what the weasel's reaction would be.

[Faiyloe]

"Incompetent fools! I will not tolerate  this." Valadash said. She turned her back to Ziga and stared out the window again. "Where is Bloodfur? No don't answer that. Just find him and bring him to me," She had taken out her dagger and was now toying with it on the window sill. "Oh and next time, don't go doing other creatures jobs for them"       

[Tiny Jackalope]

Miriam looked up at the sun as she picked up the last of the stone shards. It was almost noontime-time for her break. She walked over to a bucket filed with water and took a few sips. She then walked over to a stationary block on the ground and waited for her friend, Frim.

OOC: Was that good enough?

[Faiyloe]

OOC: That was good.

BIC: After Ziga had left Valadash reclined on on of the many couches. there was a plait of candied fruit which she picked off of as she thought. These out laws evaded my every move. they continually chose to deify me!. I will not tolerate this. They must be cut down. What was a rag tag band of outlaws compared to the mighty forces of my army.   

[Maudie]

Frim came up alongside Miriam as she headed for the compound. "I got a weapon that could help one of us get free. I have to take it to thhe compound and hide it in the nook." She was sure that in order to have a successful rebellion on of the slaves needed to get free.

In the compound Frim looked around to be sure that nobody was there. When she was satisfied she pulled a loose stone out of the wall and hid the dagger in the small nook behind it. When all the slaves were there she would pick out the best one to be freed.
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Ziga walked swiftly. She had no idea where Bloodfur was and didn't really care, but Lady Valadash did. She saw a passing rat and stopped him. "Go find Bloodfur and tell him Lady Valadash needs him."

As the rat walked away Ziga pondered what she would do next. She sat down in the middle of the compound and consulted her bag. Or the omens, as she called it.

[The Shade]

Sliverstar the outlaw had sat watching the nearly completed castle for quite a while. The latest raid had been sucessful, and he was pleased. He considered himself resopsable for the rest of the band, and often wondered how he could put their lives at stake, but when he saw the imprisoned slaves, his blood boiled, and he was sure he was doing the right thing. How could they do that to another creature? he thought.

OOC; Sorry, this might be a little short 

[Dannflower Reguba]

OOC: Not to be a wet blanket, but I think you meant Responsible right? I'll post once more people have layed their starting positions.

[HeadInAnotherGalaxy]

Varan sat in the outlaw camp and watched as the food from their previous successful raid was being organised and put away. He was no fighter. He never had been. Never really would be. But when he had first seen Lady Valadash's castle, the hordesbeasts' horrible treatment of the slaves and the terrible things that her soldiers had done, he knew he just had to help overthrow her. Just because he wasn't a fighter didn't mean he couldn't fight some other way. And thus he took part in various schemes against her rule, including the recent raid on the castle's food supply.

He sighed. He didn't like fighting, but there were some things that required some bloodshed. He hoped they would succeed in liberating the slaves, and ridding the land of her ladyship's influence, but he wished there didn't have to be so much pain and death in doing so.

[Leatho Shellhound]

Foxessa sat at the base of a big oak tree eating an apple, spoils from their last raid. She had been the one who had seen the supplies wagon first, scout and tracker being her job. The day was bright and warm, she smiled as she thought on how mad and frustrated the War Lady would be. The apple core slowly fell from her paw as she fell into a soft sleep.

[Redwaller]

Bhorlag Crosseye,
Mossflower Woods,
Day one,
Dawn.

           Bhorlag Crosseye was a cruel, savage rat. Most beasts thought that Lady Valadash was terrible, but her name was sown across the land by Bhorlag. Lady Valadash did not take part in raids or battles, she preferred to stay behind and command, so Bhorlag Crosseye took it onto himself to make her name. High was the number of beasts who had tasted his whip and had died of it. Nobody dared to make fun of his loose eye, or talk against him; the few that did weren’t there to tell the tale.

           Bhorlag was now crouching down behind some bushes, with his follower Zangeez, who tried to imitate his every movement. Crosseye shifted silently closer to his future victims, who were sitting around a fire, sleeping soundly. Directly opposite of him, ten guards were awaiting his signal to capture them with the net Bhorlag always brought on his hunts. The campers consisted of three shrews, a mouse, and an old squirrel. The Slave Master issued a pigeon’s cry, and charged the camp. The beasts’ first reaction was to drop back, which was a fatal mistake: The guards moved forward and dropped the net on top of them, trapping them swiftly.
“Well, well! What do we have here? Three logmice, a fieldmouse and a treemouse. What a catch!” Turning to the guards, he rapped out orders.
“Bundle them up and bring them back to camp!” Turning around he walked on towards Lady Valadash’s fort, and on to his beloved slave pen.

[Maudie]

Frim watched as Crosseye walked towards the pen where the slaves were having their midday break. She hated that one. How many times she had felt his whip on her back in the seven seasons as a slave, she knew not.

She scowled and walked over to Miriam. "Look who's back, everybody's favorite slave master. I wonder what unfortunate beasts he brought home with him this time." Her lips pressed into a hard line.

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As Ziga walked through the palace her mid was hard at work. what would she tell Valadash during their daily seer session? The omens hadn't shown any useful things this morning.

She looked out a window and saw that disgusting slave master, Bhorlag Crosseye, he called himself. Perhaps he could be the next victim to her unspeaking omens? Nay. He was far too valuable at the moment.

[Faiyloe]

OOC: I'll start playing one of the new slaves.


BIC: Tina was one of the creatures who had been captured she was a gray squirle. Tina clawed at the net as it was dragged along the ground in a hopeless attempt to escape.

"Hay git yer brush tail out o' my face!" one of the shrews said "oh sorry!" Tira said as she moved her tail. "hay you anent one to talk your sittin' on me!" another shrew said. "shurup in there!" One of the vermin said prodding the net non to gently with his spear.

They stopped, the net was tipped over and Tina came tumbling out of the net head over heals and landed on top of  one of the shrews! "ouch geroff!" Tina got up and brushed her self off "Sorry," they were in some kind of compound.
She turned around to face her captures a mixture of fear and anger in her eyes.     

       

[Jetthebinturong]

Bloodfur lounged against the wall, his eyes scanning over the slaves he missed nothing, he noticed one of them bump into a ferret and watched as another group was brought in. He heard feet behind him and spoke without turning "What do you want rat?"
"Uh, Lady Valadash wishes to see you sir"
"Where is she, in her chambers?"
"Uh I think so sir"
"Very well then, go about your duties" Bloodfur pulled away from the wall and set of in the direction of Valadash's chambers. Knocking on the door he entered "You requested to see me milady?"

[The Shade]

Fireflash the squrriel was in a treetop, survveing the landscape. The crossbow-beast had just finished his latest meal, and had been sent on sentry duty. Pushing the shells of various nut to the woodland floor, he looked up suddenly. What was that sound? he thought. Loading a bolt in, he began strolling along the branchs. I better go and check it out.