The Recruiting Sergeants

[Calaron]

The mole frowned.  It wasn't a contemplative frown, which any beast in the town knew him to use when working on inventions.  He was genuinely unhappy, a rare sight.  "You'm means to tell oi that thurr's nuthin' certing?"   The mole looked at Brigg.  The big rat was bound to sign, even after hearing that.  Then so was Bruntil.  Brigg was still young and needed someone to watch after him.  And, to a certain extent, Bruntil also felt the pull to join after Dougie's speech.  Not a great pull mind you, but a pull nevertheless.  The mole frowned deeper.  With a sigh, he signed the contract.  "Oi'll be speaken wi' ee badgerlord when we gets thurr, hurr oi will."

Bruntil heard Dimitri's monologue to Brigg and made a face.  He turned to the smaller rat. "Gurr, you'm naowt but ee gurt trubblemaker. You'm bringen et on eeself an' those 'raownd ee.  Ee best foind wurk fur eeself an' start makin' an honest livin'."  The mole stepped back away from the hare to give Brigg room to step up and sign.

"Oi'm goen to miss Barrow."

[Flandor]

OOC: If everyone could direct their attention to the ooc thread, the villain profiles have been posted there In other news, Something Horrifying is next in the RP thread, then I will make a post.

[Myrkin]

OOC: She is next as in the rest of us should wait with posting?

[W0NWILL]

OOC: I believe so.

[Something Horrifying]

Character: Dmitri
Location: ...Three guesses.



Unable to decipher the odd look Brigg was giving him, Dmitri raised an eyebrow. "What, never seen another rat before?" he asked sarcastically. "And sure, that's all well and good--if what they're saying is actually true, mind you."

Casting a dark look towards Thorn, the young rat lowered his voice slightly. "I certainly wouldn't put it past 'em to exaggerate the threat, or even flat out lie. Anything to get you in. Then once you're in..." Dmitri paused momentarily to make a quick gesture with his paw across his throat, then continued. "They'll work you 'til you die, without a thought. Trust me, okay? I've seen this sort before."

Turning to Thorn, he shrugged, looking him over skeptically. He didn't like the tone that had been taken with him by the hare or the mole, so he decided to speak up loud enough to be heard by at least the closer parts of the surrounding crowd. "Your friend said there's a threat coming, but for someone asking these creatures to sacrifice themselves for a stranger's cause, you aren't very forthcoming with the details, are you? For all they know you're lying about the whole thing. But no, they've got good hearts, so one speech and they go running off to die for you."

If his motivations hadn't been personal spite and a vendetta against all military organizations, Dmitri's rebelling against the recruiters might almost have been noble--he certainly believed what he had said, at least to some degree. In fact, he almost cared. Without entirely realizing it, he found himself identifying with the small village that suddenly found its peace disrupted by soldiers marching into town.

[Flandor]

Character: Brigg
Location: Barrow

The situation had begun to make Brigg feel quite dizzy.  He had thought this rat might be a friend, the first other rat he'd ever met.  And what Dmitri said made sense, which was the most confusing bit of all.  If rats were all supposed to be bad, then why were these hares calling for war and this rat playing the pacifist? Both Bruntil, who he'd entrust his life to, and the hares, who he couldn't help but respect, had called Dmitri a troublemaker and questioned his character.

Brigg gave Dmitri another long look.  He couldn't help admiring him.  To stand up and question the Long Patrol sergeants had to take some strength of character, though he doubted the other rat would ever admit it. 

He was torn. 

What to do? Was what he believed the right thing to do really so right? Would be be sent off to die for no reason, or would his sacrifice mean the salvation of his home and family? Would his father be disappointed in him if he stayed? Could Brigg even live with himself if he didn't go and fight?

The answer was no, of course.  He could never sleep at night knowing he had let his neighbors go off to war without him.  His seemingly difficult choice wasn't much of a choice at all.

He looked about at the hares, at Bruntil, and finally back to Dmitri, heavy of heart and feeling inexplicably guilty, like he was letting the other rat down.  It was silly- he'd known the other rat for only a few minutes, yet he felt some kind of kinship with him.  Maybe that was a normal feeling between creatures of the same species. 

He took off his cap and fidgeted with it in his paws.  "I... I don' believe these hares would lie to us.  T'ain't in their natures, I think.  I must go.  An' I think you should too, if you don' want to end up recruited by these vermin when they do come through our country.  I doubt they'd leave you be..."

[Myrkin]

Character: Walnut Strider
Location: Barrow


"Wait, Furff!" Walnut shouted after the molemaiden, thinking that there could be other way for them to pay for the room, but she had already left. He looked at the tavern owner, who'd just woken up from his sleep and didn't seem entirely lucid. Maybe the mouse had had less than enough sleep lately.

"Uhm... Sir, me and my friend, who just left, would like to rent a room for a night," he said very slowly, so the mouse could understand everything.

"Yes, yes. And you don't have anything to pay for it," the owner said impatiently. Perhaps he was more lucid than Walnut had thought. "And don't 'sir' me. Everybody calls me Tom, so should you."

"Alright. My name's Walnut. How..."

"Well... Look at this mess!" Tom interrupted him, staring at the main room in annoyance. Indeed the tavern – to put it lightly - wasn't very clean at the moment. Tables were full of dirty plates, forks, knives, spoons and half empty mugs. The floor fared a bit better, but here and there you could spot stains made by spilled drinks and pieces of food.

"Celebrations! I'm getting too old for this!" Tom said, his voice trembling with irritation and despair. Then he looked at Walnut smartly. "Listen, hare. If you help me clean this really quick, you'll get yourself and your friend a room and warm meal. What do you say to that?"

"We have a deal, Tom," Walnut said, once again cursing Robin and his jokes. "But I'm not a hare. I'm a rabbit."

"Right. First, let's get these dirty dishes from tables to kitchen," Tom said, completely ignoring Walnut's remark. The gray rabbit sighed and followed the tavern owner.

[Flandor]

Character: Dougie
Location: Barrow

The ottermaid seemed unsure, and taken off guard by Dougie's question.  He listened to her protest a bit before conceding to join.  Dougie shook his head.

"Miss, it'll do you no good to join up so reluctantly, y'see? I'm not here to put pressure on you.  It's a big decision, wot, but t'would be an honourable thing to do.  You think on it and you let me know.  But remember you'd be in the company of some of your fine and good-hearted neighbors, in it together.  We wouldn't let you go anywhere unprepared."

He dug a contract from his bag and handed it to her. 

"Y'can read this, then, and bring it back when you decide.  I'll be here all night," he said, with a jolly wink.  He didn't wish to scare the young maid.  It was indeed a big decision, and it wouldn't do for her to be merely pressured into joining without her whole heart being in it.  She seemed sturdy and strong though, and he'd certainly be happy to see her come along.  Otters made fine fighters.

[Tiria Wildlough]

Trina took the paper. She scanned the words, trying to recall her literary skills from when she used to live at Redwall. She hadn't read in a while, but she didn't have very much trouble reading the simple contract.
She stopped when she came to the words 'absolute loyalty to the Long Patrol'. She looked up.
'Excuse me, sir, this doesn't mean I'll stay in the Patrol for the rest of my life, does it?'

[Redwaller]

The weather was growing unbearably hot in Orleaf's forge, so he stopped and walked to the village main square to take his lunch. Arriving at the square, Orleaf was overwhelmed by the commontion. He was even more surprised to see a rat among the crowd. He made his way towards his usual place where he took his lunch, only to find a bunch of hares gulping down huge amounts of food. He turned to a nearby hedgehog and asked what the pandemonium was all about. "Well, you see, two Long Patrollers came this morning to gather a bunch of volunteers to protect Salamandastron. So every beast has gathered here to see them go." Orleaf was astounded by what the hedgehog told him. "Are they still demanding volunteers?"
"Yes, they need as much as they can get, that's what they said." I'll go gather my few belongings and follow them on their quest.

[Flandor]

OOC: Redwaller, I want to ask if you can make your post a bit longer.  I asked for seven sentences, if I remember right.  Not picking on you, so please don't take it personal there's a lot of commotion in the square right now, so why not describe what Orleaf sees going on around him? What did he want to have for lunch, and is he disappointed that his break will be disturbed by all the ruckus? What is his reaction to the Long Patrol, or to an unfamiliar rat being there?

[Redwaller]

Fixed. Is it better?

[Flandor]

Ooc: Yes, much.  Thanks!

[Redwaller]

Orleaf walked into his forge and started picking his few belongings. He paused to look at his father's sword, he took it carefully and looked at the beautifully carved pommel stone. He took the scabbard off the wall and put it in his belt. Gathering the small bundle, he walked out and went back to the square, looking for the one in charge.

[DanielofRedwall]

Character: Thorn
Location: Barrow

Thorn took the contract from the mole and awkwardly patted him on the back, attempting to reassure him of his decision. "You can leave as soon as this threat is over," he muttered.

Just as an awkward silence was threatening, the other young imprudent rat spoke again, first addressing the other rat.
"I certainly wouldn’t put it past ‘em to exaggerate the threat, or even flat out lie. Anything to get you in. Then once you’re in... They’ll work you ‘til you die, without a thought. Trust me, okay? I’ve seen this sort before." He then addressed Thorn. "Your friend said there’s a threat coming, but for someone asking these creatures to sacrifice themselves for a stranger’s cause, you aren’t very forthcoming with the details, are you? For all they know you’re lying about the whole thing. But no, they’ve got good hearts, so one speech and they go running off to die for you."

Before Thorn could reply, Brigg rebutted the other rat's comments. "I... I don' believe these hares would lie to us.  T'ain't in their natures, I think.  I must go.  An' I think you should too, if you don' want to end up recruited by these vermin when they do come through our country.  I doubt they'd leave you be..."

Thorn patted Brigg on the back in acknowledgement of what he had said. "Well spoken, lad," he whispered to him. In an odd way, we was growing to like him.
But he wouldn't let him have the last word. He turned to the other rat and growled at him, "Listen here, laddie buck, this threat is very real and could threaten life in Barrow and all over the land as we know it! Surely that is enough for you? Besides, we aren't the type of beasts that would force other beasts to sign up against their will and exaggerate claims to make them feel guilty if they don't. This young rat and this mole here volunteered out of their own will, we aren't forcing anything on them. They care about the beasts of the town, so they want to protect 'em. I don't know about you, but I call that bravery and honour. Now quit your silly remarks and get away."
He then stood back and patiently waited for the rat to sign.