Welcome, to the Barkhills

[The Skarzs]

Lord Drungren frowned at Jackdaw, noting to make sure it was a better choice of guard to invite to table next time. Karn growled at the rat. "Another stunt like that, soldier, and I'll have you cleaning the battlements until-" Suddenly, about two score creatures, all wielding spears, surrounded the group at table.
"What the barnacle?" exclaimed Garan, rising to his feet. He was hit from behind and fell face first on the table, completely knocked out. Another wolf stepped into the light, chuckling mirthlessly. "Well, well; nice to see some newcomers for this event. Lord Drungren," he bowed in mockery. "Good to see you again." The wolf lord was grabbed from behind by a lynx, a bobcat, and a cougar, who stuffed a rag into his mouth and tied him up quickly. "Vrungin!" Karn roared, pouncing at the sinewy wolf, who only dodged quickly to one side and hitting out with his iron cane.
"Don't bother, Commander; I'll let myself out. Oh, and tell the guard's wives that I'm sorry for the loss of their husbands." He turned to the Mossflowerians, his bear pelt clothing rustling. "I would like to welcome you to the new age of the Barkhills, foreigners. I hope you enjoy your stay." On his mark, the surrounding creatures knocked out the lights, and hurried out in swift order, dragging Lord Drungren with them.

[Cornflower MM]

Arya had jumped out of her seat and run across the table, carefully avoiding the food, to get to Garan. "Captain!" She said, moving aside a pie.

[Jasper]

Trillo was in the process of devouring his third pie when creatures made their move. His fork dropped with a clatter from his shaking hands and he dropped down to a crouch above his captain, feeling for a heart beat.
"I think he's alive mates! Blast it, we never should have trusted them, who knows what kind of trouble we're getting into. We need to repair our ship or get a new one and get out of this wretched place!"

Jackaw Chaintooth had seemed remarkably unfazed by the entire ordeal. He continued eating in silence, burying his smile in a mug of ale. Everything had gone exactly as his masters had said it would. Truly changing his allegiance had been a great choice. He would be a spy on the inside, ensuring that no move from Karn would surprise his new allies. He had never been fond of the commander, nor of the creatures of the castle. He emptied the last of his ale and gnawed the last remains off of the bones of a chicken. Glancing at the rest of the beasts, he noticed that they were clearly preoccupied with the injured. Now was a good time to leave. He stalked back to his post, the entry point of Vrungin and his troops.

[Gwen A. Mouse]

Ginny leapt to her paws as the festive scene was suddenly turned upside down. She watched helplessly, unable to do anything as their captain was attacked and their host captured. After the attackers had left, Ginny shakily relit a few candles. No point in blundering around in the dark.

Trillo's pronouncement of the Captain's state was greeted with a sigh of relief from the ferret jill. Hopefully Garan would be alright soon. Then she caught sight of a beast who seemed entirely unaffected by the alarming turn of events. A grey rat, who had kept eating coolly through the whole thing.

And now he was leaving.

Not before I find out what he had to do with this.

Only pausing to make sure that her axe was ready to be drawn at any moment, Ginny sprinted after the rat.

[The Skarzs]

Karn got up, his face a mask of rage. "It's been years since Vrungin has dared show his face; years! He's been planning this the entire time. . ." He made sure Garan was alright before wiping away a bit of blood running down the side of his own face from when Vrungin hit him. The other guests were trying to make sense of what had just happened, and he ordered them to leave to their homes.
Garan sat up slowly, a paw to his sore head. "What just. . . ?"
"Stay seated, Garan," Karn growled. "Lord Drungren has just been taken by a most formidable enemy. All of you stay here."

[Cornflower MM]

Arya sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" She told Garan, then jumped as a paw touched her shoulder. "Miss, would you mind getting off the table?" Dain asked kindly, and quietly.. "Of course." Arya said, equally quietly, getting off.

[Jasper]

Trillo was still fuming that he and the crew had been put into such a precarious position, and he desperately wanted to blame Karn for the whole mess, but he kept his tongue silent and bit his lip. Instead he inspected his captains injuries and asked questions about these new invaders. He spotted Ginny racing out of the hall, axe half drawn. "I knew it! I knew that awful creature was involved! Never trust a vermin! I warned them didn't I?" He thought silently. Making a mental note to confront Ginny about her mysterious run from the site of the attack later, Trillo returned to talk with the rest of the crew.

Jackaw Chaintooth was in no hurry to get anywhere. He strolled leisurely along the road. He had been turning some of the guards to Vrungin's side, and he nodded and joked with them as he passed them on the street. He had brought an apple along with him from the feast and in a high temper, he took a large bite out of it and threw it into an alleyway. Mimicking Karn's earlier statement he walked down the road, unaware that he was being followed. "Another stunt like that soldier and I'll have you cleaning the battlements. Huh ol' commander's had his blasted battlements cleaned, and serve him darned well right." He muttered to no one in particular. He reached his section of the wall and found that a grappling hook still remained there. He drew a small dagger and sliced the rope. Then he grabbed the hook and tossed it over the wall into the Barklands. Glancing around to make sure no one had seen him, he sat down and rested his back against the wall and sighed in relief, still unaware of Ginny's presence.

[Izeroth]

 Ashtail sat at the table, surprised, but not really horrified, at what had just happened. Treachery often happened in a vermin horde, and you got used to it. The wolf-lord had seemed like a good beast, but Ashtail wasn't going to risk his neck for a wolf he'd just met.

It's always a good idea to keep out of civil wars...

"I say that we get out of here as soon as possible! We should try to stay out of this conflict if we can," the stoat remarked, making his opinion known to the group.

[The Skarzs]

"You can't." Karn said in a serious voice. "You don't have the tools needed to cut timber to repair your ship, nor do you have the beastpower (i.e. manpower) to do it." He sat down and rested his chin on his paw, furrowing his brows and staring at nothing in particular as he thought.
Garan rubbed his head ruefully. "He's right, messmates. As much as I hate it, we can't do much until we can get decent help, which, at the moment, looks like it's gonna be a bit. Who's left from the ship isn't enough, and our tools got lost in the wreck. We're in strange land, and we're little more than stranded."
Karn stood. "I'll make proper arrangements. For now, you all can rest." He called a servant over. "Show them to some rooms," he told the squirrel.

[Cornflower MM]

OOC: Please see the Front Lawns.

[Gwen A. Mouse]

((OOC: *wince* Hate to be the first to post after such bad news... this was already written, though...))

When she saw the rat sit down and apparently relax, Ginny made her move. The jill slammed the unsuspecting beast against the wall once, then stood over him menacingly. She didn't bother preventing a growl from rising in her throat.

"You were involved in that, vermin. Tell me what you know about it. Now," Ginny snarled. Drawing her axe, she let it rest near Jackaw's footpaw.

The blade gleamed fiercely in the setting sun's light. It was very, very sharp.

[The Skarzs]

OOC: Gonna have to stop you there, Gwen. That's what you call PPing; you just forced someone else's character to do something they didn't approve of yet. What you could do is remove this part:

The jill slammed the unsuspecting beast against the wall once, then stood over him menacingly.

. . . then change it to:

When she saw the rat sit down and apparently relax, Ginny made her move. The jill swiftly held her dagger against the rat's throat, tickling the skin. She didn't bother preventing a growl from rising in her throat. . .

. . . And the rest would be fine.

[Jasper]

OOC: Gwen's alright. Messaged me about it before posting.

BIC:
Despite his outward appearance of bravado and power, Jackaw was weaker willed on the inside. Every fiber of his being wanted to break down and beg for mercy, but one single thing stopped this from happening. This ferret, whoever she was, was a foreigner, and that meant she didn't know anything about him save what she had seen today. If he played his cards right he might be able to force her to back off.
"Ar, so what if I did, how should I know you didn't? Strange coincidence eh? You lot show up, and out of the blazes the wolf king's dragged right out of his own palace. Yew want to add onto that by killing me? One of the newcomers witnesses the king get bagged, then up and kills an innocent guard. Why, yer cap'n and his whole crew'd be thrown in the dungeons forever to rot."
Once he had finished his bid for freedom, he made as though to stand back up; he pushed against the ground with his right paw and bent his legs.

[Gwen A. Mouse]

((OOC: Oops. Sorry, forgot to say that I'd cleared it with Jasper. ))

Jackaw's words struck closer to home than Ginny would have liked. Gwynt a'r tonnau, she hated when an enemy was right. She couldn't harm this beast. ...but he didn't know what she would or would not do.

With a wicked grin, the jill relaxed her stance. "Maybe you're right, rat. It would be a bad move to kill you. But I don't have to kill you to make you talk."

The edge of her axe scraped against the stone wall. Ginny's grin was now positively sharklike.

"Now why don't you come along and explain yourself to Karn? I'm sure he would love to hear your story."

[The Skarzs]

OOC: Okay; I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for telling me now. (Next time, I would appreciate it if you said something OOC or in the OOC topic. )

BIC: Karn pounded the table, causing platters and candles to bounce dramatically. "Where are the wolf protectors!" he roared to a lower officer. "There's ten of them, and a minimum of two are supposed to be guarding Lord Drungren at all times, if not near him, then at least where they can see him! Where were they?"
The opossum officer wiggled his claws in nervousness. "That's just it, sir. I got a report that the wolves, and many of the Hammer, were missing, but that was not five minutes before Lord Drungren was captured."
"Well, where are they?" Karn gritted out.
"Other than those that are dead, we can only assume they've been captured as well, for there was a sign of a struggle. The invaders came in through that ancient pathway on the north slope; must have gone out that way, too."
Karn slouched into a chair. "A portion of the Hammer too?"
"Yes, commander."
The cougar rubbed his face. "You can go," he told the officer. He thought about this news, mumbling to himself. "You've been planning this for a long time, Vrungin. You were given far too long a time."