Oasis

[Mahou-Shoujo]

The truth was that Edric was going above and beyond, though he hid it well, he was at his limit, his muscled ere in agony, his breathing ragged and his mind shot at this point, and he felt a deep squeezing pain in his chest, in addition this whole situation was so far removed from anything he had ever expected to do in his life that all his instincts had been saying to flee even in their dulled state.
But he couldn't, Edric, despite a lack of proper education or particularly notable wit, was smart enough to know that this rat creature person, was going places, at the very least they would have some local influence, and getting in their good graces was just about the best outcome right now for him and Gora, especially as he was pretty sure he wouldn't be very functional soon, so having some gratitude to live off would be nice!

When the chain struck him, Edric was expecting a heavy hit and maybe some crushed ribs, instead it passed right through with the oddest sensation he had ever experienced, filling him with heat and cold all at the same time, he was idly aware of the ring's influence being disrupted by what he assumed to be more magic bullshit, before his world went dark and he thought no longer, days of no sleep and massive over exertion letting themselves be known all at once.

Lizzy had a much more 'pleasant' experience if the word could truly even be applied, the chains oddly did not hurt, they seemed to sap what little magical energy she had left and there was no way she could break them or even move, which considering the circumstances was quite frightening really, but she had one thing that made her feel better about being captured, such advanced solid magic was clearly going to be at great cost to the Lich, and she had a very good feeling that a creature such as him, so removed from life and the world of living magic, would be completely unable to simply sit down and wait to recharge, whatever he had left was all he would have to work with unless he found someone to take more from, and she was completely drained already, and Edric, well if he HAD any magic it was thoroughly drained days before they even found this ruin.

Even with the rather impressive dodge Ratty's fur was still singed, such uselessly unrestrained magic had to be expensive to cast, and for what was really just minor annoyance and an irritating smell, it really was an enormous waste.
However there was no Lumina to explain how to use that as an advantage, the presence of the other voice seemingly forcing them into silence, whether due to there not being 'room' in Ratty's mind for so many voices or simply overwhelming confusion.

The plan seemed to work perfectly, the Lich no longer had expressions but he almost seemed to smile as he heard the attack.
"Telegraphing your attacks you foolish rodent?... Even if you did not, no warrior would ever be able to strike me, now, die and becoming raw waste for my spells!"
Even if they were currently silenced, Lumina was still able to act, it's host was tired, and running low on magic even if Lumina shielded Ratty from the worst of that particular drained feeling, but there was enough for another small spell, imbuing the hammer with it's own energy would be a bit much in this situation, but a spell to attract lightning? Such a thing was very possible with the remaining energy, and so situational that almost no mage would expect it, never mind a lich as arrogant and clearly mentally degraded as the one they now fought, so when the hammer left Ratty's hands it left with a simple enchantment, all but invisible to even the trained eye.

The Lich didn't even bother to step out of the way of the hammer that he clearly viewed as harmless, and a moment later unleased another bolt of lightning, without his rune carved bones or magical circles, it was even more wild and terrifying than the last one as it streaked across the short distance towards Ratty, coming closer and closer... Until as if hitting an invisible curve, turned before it could do more than put Ratty's lightly singed fur on edge, turning to follow the hammer, the timing was perfect, the lightning reaching the hammer just as it struck the lich, causing a magical explosion that shook and in some cases shattered the room around them, unleashing magic in such massive amounts that it would leave Ratty momentarily blinded, there was not even much as a last anguished scream as the lich's flame body was obliterated, the ancient being blown away by his own uncontrolled magic...

When the shaking stopped and Ratty's vision cleared, though their ears were still ringing painfully, the view at first seemed fine, Edric and Lizzy were both unconscious on the floor, the chains gone, both had seemingly been sent flying by the explosion, and all that was left of the lich, was a single blue stone, wispy flames beginning to form around it once again, though too slowly to even survive the wind that now blew through the destroyed room from above, notably, there was no instinct to eat this stone, and merely observing it sent a chill down Ratty's spine with the sheer WRONGNESS of it, this was the core of that Lich, no doubt it contained the marks of unimaginable evil, and perhaps even the spirit of that monster.

 

[Fyrra]

Another blinding explosion. Focusing as intensely on the target as the rodent had been made the resulting blindness uncomfortable, if predictable, but when the creature's vision returned, there was nothing left to double-tap with the magic stone. So much for a relentless last-ditch assault: the stalling tactic that had been employed ended up failing in the most spectacular way, with the bait-and-punish combination doing buying far more than a few extra seconds to think up a new plan of attack. Good thing, too. The rat's energy had since been depleted, apart from the adrenaline reserves. It stood there, patches of its fur singed with flame, other sections standing on edge from the static, its mask still intact somehow, panting from exertion.

{Learn from this, so you can keep up next time,} the intense voice concluded before vanishing into the recesses of whichever void from whence it came. Whatever it was, its familiarity was uncomfortable, but its experience and adaptability difficult to dispute. Also, the voice was rude!

For a moment, the ratling surveyed its surroundings. The magical reaction appeared to have done some damage... There were cracks in the floor, walls, and ceiling, and the previously bound companions were nowhere near their position mere moments ago. They were spent as it was when they went down, so this development was worrying enough to approach and check for a pulse before anything else. Once their vitals had been confirmed, the ratling eyeballed the fiery stone where the lich once stood, and its stomach churned.

"Dinner," it called the stone. The rodent promised some goblin upstairs that a lord would be eaten this day, and so it was going to be. Within this fiery crystal was the knowledge of how to create the plague that was ravaging this forest, and by extension, how to reverse the effects of it. The rat drew closer, its gaze fixed upon the stone, and with each step grew more and more disgusted with the prospect of that thing being inside of it.

"Do we truly want that regenerating inside our body?"

The creature glanced toward its discarded hammer, and breathed out a sigh: there was no way it was accepting the 'soul' of something that called Lumina a parasite. Beyond being scientifically incorrect, Lumina was a friend. There could be only one answer.

"I suppose not."

And so the hammer was retrieved, lifted up, and brought down upon its prey. All in all, the final swing felt so empty compared to the rest of the battle, the act itself merely due diligence to keep the creature from rising again for another round, and the realization that with its destruction the rat had cast aside any chance of reversing this plague through magical means. That left the creature back where it started: armed with herbs and lacking a proper laboratory to create medicine. In short, the mission was most likely a failure, and that was assuming the... Mul? The Mul Tribe? Yeah, there was no way they were just going to let the trio saunter back upstairs without a tense exchange, even if Lizzy and Edric were on their feet.

So to that end, the ratling gathered up the shortsword Edric had borrowed, and moved back to the doorway to inspect the supposed one-way passage. And despite everything, a smirk formed upon its lips.

"Lordslayer."

What a satisfying feeling.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lumina had now finally returned to speaking as the other presence receded, while it could have possibly forced it's own voice to be heard, there was no telling what kind of negative consequences a mental shouting match between a magical rock and a mysterious voice could have on the Host's brain, even just the likely distraction it would cause could have been enough to result in some level of damage during the fight.
It was fortunate that Ratty had not been tempted into eating the Lich's core, liches were all incredibly varied in their methods, but there was no way that anything they produced could be good.
"Wise choice... I doubt I could... Break that down safely".
Lumina commented as the stone was smashed, releasing nothing but a pathetic whimper of smoke and fire, the last gasp of an ancient and likely cruel evil, it was certainly a more heroic victory than smashing up angry rocks in ruins.

"Perhaps this Lich... Was involved in the plague?"
Lumina suggested, it was a guess based on what little it knew of things like rot and decay, having corpses walking around and possibly attacking living things certainly seemed like it might spread illness, and certain types of magic tended to have negative effects on the local area as a matter of course, though even if that were so it might not be enough to fully clear up the after effects, and judging by how the lich's puppets had all fallen completely still, there were likely many rotting bodies simply scattered around the forest now.

The door had gone a simple shade of black, the runes and markings gone as it's purpose was no longer present, it still seemed to contain unused magic however, but eating such a large object was likely not healthy, perhaps it could be of some use if the rat ever needed to seal something behind a magical door? Of course it still didn't open, having become stuck in it's frame, the magic no longer allowing it to maintain the structural integrity of the surrounding building, fortunately this also had the effect of allowing a rather large hole to form right next to the door, leading out into the hall where there was oddly none of the Mul.
The location of the Mul would soon become clear however, as Ratty would soon encounter several Uhar, distinguishable by their lack of armour, they were tying up several Mul who seemed thoroughly shell shocked, their magical prison must have ceased to work during the battle as the Lich called in all his magical resources.

 

[Fyrra]

There was something off about the voice: its familiarity without a precise origin to place would have kept bothering the rodent if it didn't have a dozen other things to worry about that ranked higher on the list of priorities than another voice in its mind. After all, the first one was almost nothing but beneficial, and the only problem the rodent could have with it was that it was technically sharing a body, but even that was just a small enough issue that the creature didn't worry about it. But, if the source of that voice receded into the depths of that sealed off pit of memories... it could have been the previous life's mother? Or a stern teacher? It was definitely too femme to be the sword instructor... but so far, memories were sparse when it came to identifying the sorts of people that knew how to battle monsters. Mentally prodding produced no response. Whatever it was, it had likely gone dormant.

But that was fine: Lumie was better company.

This was most likely the source, the rodent responded to its internal companion, but until we meet with the scouting parties and confirm everything, that's just guesswork. Good guesswork, but still just that.

The following foray into the lower chambers produced more than just some nice evidence to support Lumina's claim, however: the bigger surprise was not the non-functional bodies collapsed on the floor, but the uhar not only having sprung themselves free, but also claiming victory this deep in the fort. Scratch whatever assumptions were made mere moments ago: apparently the Mul were going to allow the group back outside without so much as a tense exchange! Not that they had much of a choice in the matter, anyway. Between the upset Uhar, and the sudden catastrophic loss of the guy in charge, they might have been sufficiently intimidated. After all, who wouldn't be intimidated by thirty or so angry people who just broke out of jail with a score to settle?

Come to think of it, what choice did the Mul have in the first place? Met with defiance, The Lord would have likely done to his subjects what the ratling did to him! Perhaps Nulyth knew more? She seemed to allude to something requiring context when they spoke earlier.

"You lot work quickly," the creature mused aloud to the Uhar tribesfolk, It wasn't willing to proceed much farther without first getting Edric and Lizzy to safety, but it could at least say hello now that it was all but certain that the tribe had things well in hand. "I still have some energy, if you need help, Otherwise, do you have somewhere for my friends to rest?"

Anything alluding to grabbing a shovel and helping bury or burn the carcasses, or apologizing for breaking the structure, might have to wait though. For all the young creature's talk of being able to help, knowing there were no immediate threats in the vicinity was not kind to its adrenaline reserves.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"I... Dislike the voice..."
Lumina declared in a rare statement of opinion that wasn't intended purely to offer assistance in survival or generally improving the host's situation, it didn't even make logical sense! Sure the voice was an unknown, but it had seemingly been helpful, and also acted mostly on sound logic with it's comments and advice... And simply dismissing an unknown entity that might even be linked to the other world was dangerous on it's own.
But yet... Lumina disliked it, perhaps it was due to the fact that it's sudden appearance had genuinely caught the pearl by surprise, or that it had forced them into silence by it's mere presence, of course Lumina could now prevent being silenced if it came to it, since it knew what to expect now... But having two voices competing for attention during a battle was a recipe for one dead rodent.

It seemed there were more Uhar than just the ones Ratty had seen in the prisons, most likely there had been multiple holding areas, in fact there were also some small differences, different stylings of clothing, some tattoos that multiple had, perhaps the Uhar were split into a tribal society? And had been held based on tribe, either way they clearly outnumbered the Mul quite heavily, and had probably only been captured due to surprise and help from the Lich.
An older looking Uhar with similar energy to Nulyth spoke for the group.
"We are in control now, your great victory was more than enough... The Mul are now our own problem to deal with and should soon all have fallen".
The probably elder explained before nodding at the request.
"Yes, this fortress was, is the home of all Uhar, though damaged by the Mul it still has many functional rooms for resting, if you need aid in moving your allies we will offer that as well".
He would also give a brief description of the fort's layout and where to find sleeping quarters.

 

[Fyrra]

(Me too. Had a more urgent problem to deal with, didn't want to fight them too. We can worry about that tomorrow, maybe.)

The ratling yawned, pinging back to Lumina as it looked over this unfamiliar elder, and after a moment raised a cute little fist in half-hearted victory. "That would be appreciated. My apologies for breaking... everything?" It left without many other words, just enough to help with whoever volunteered for body-carrying duties. Thus began a quick journey back to the corpse chamber with the scary door, where it was beginning to sink in that this lich was probably not just a threat to the jungle at large, but something that could have spiraled far out of control if given the time to gather its strength and shake off whatever hangover it was in, assuming skeletons had those upon awakening? One does not simply discover the secrets to immortality and unlife while being as dense as a brick, after all. This might be something to ask Lizzy about later, or perhaps her guild. There was a lot about liches that made no scientific sense, but it did stand to reason that, without a brain, mental decay might have set in in some way or another.

Truly, there were probably half a dozen or more factors at play that, if absent, would have been the point where this rat's short life ended, dooming everyone in the process, and even upon considering that there still was no urgency or panic at the thought of dying. To die would be.... inconvenient? Disappointing, in that doing so would mean separation from Lumina? Clearly death was not the actual end, so...

The creature's fur bristled as it looked over its companions, suddenly slightly... agitated? Strange. In any case, it pulled the ring from Edric's finger before grabbing hold of Lizzy's belongings and stowing them away. From there, it was a long and slow walk to where-ever the stairs were, and then to the rooms designated for resting, at which point the rat dropped everything and went for a short walk to find Gora and let him know that everything was okay. By the time the rodent returned to the room it picked out, it had energy for nothing else. Just an unceremonious sprawl and a groan as the darkness of sleep overtook it.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

The Uhar assured Ratty that the damage was not too severe, that it was mostly confined to a small area that they could just shore up with stone from some other ruins if need be, and that ultimately it was far better to need to make some repairs than it would have been to search for a new winter home or even region to inhabit if the necromancer got too far.
"Liches are... Often far more dangerous... Unknown why this one was so much weaker".
Lumina commented, sharing some of it's limited and random knowledge, it didn't know WHY a lich would be so weak, but it also didn't have access to modern magical theory so maybe Lizzy would prove more useful after a rest, after all she hadn't seem overly surprised during the fight, and was even confident enough to trust her own magic against it.

Edric seemed to slump even more as the ring was removed, it's effects finally fading, he was in a deep and not all together healthy looking sleep, more like a hopefully short coma than anything, but at least the ring was no longer doing more damage, even just holding it would give Ratty a small bit of extra pep, like eating one of those strange bitter leaves that made the younger rats so excitable.
"This is... Very well made, very powerful... Eating it is... Not advised".
Lumina commented on the ring, with a rare advisory to not try eating it, which was fair enough, it was made of some sort of vaguely golden looking metal, and metal was a much harder rock than the previous rocks, it also was sort of Edric's and eating the possessions of allies was not very nice.
Lizzy meanwhile seemed to be having a much healthier sleep, and could likely have been awoken with a little persistence, but it was certainly better to let her rest, and the Uhar seemed to agree as they transported her carefully, two of them working together.

Gora was found dragging two of the Mul prisoners into a cell, even with only one fully functional arm he seemed to be quite a strong man, the strength of a labourer who was used to manual labour as opposed to that of a warrior who trained every day.
His words didn't really stick clearly with the exhausted rodent, but he seemed grateful, and a little scared, and would later go to check on his comatose friend.

 

[Fyrra]

Assurances from the locals confirmed the rodent's developing suspicions that, should this have gotten out of hand, there might have been another migration in spite of the shroud's defeat a few days prior. Truly, this bode ill for the creature and its hopes of living out a quiet life as anything other than a hero, but at least on the short term, the threats were... manageable? As manageable as being defeated by a rat with a little too much power in its limbs and passable scientific knowledge could be, anyway. Then again, those hopes were kind of in direct conflict with the other overarching goal of shaking the world by its roots and creating that quiet, peaceful home for others to enjoy.

Even better, holding onto Edric's ring made the last leg of the rodent's journey just a smidge more bearable when the uhar equivalent of a bed was already calling. It dare not wear the ring for the possibility of getting the jitters and hyperactive instincts it had from that meeting with Ms. Pellinta, but that was fine. Biting down upon this golden (gold? one of the softer, potentially edible metals?) trinket hadn't even crossed its mind until Lumina mentioned it. It was Edric's, after all: taking stuff from him in any capacity other than to help him rest was... yes, not very nice. That part about it being well-made stood out to the rodent in its failure-to-sleep haze: was Lumina developing an interest in appreciating art? That... made sense, come to think of it: they seemed interested in fashion back in the tailor's shop at that one village.

The rodent looked over its brush-stained robes and scarf, simultaneously relaxed from not needing to pull twigs and bramble from its fur, and.... disappointed? Something about this didn't feel right, but the creature was too out of it to place just what. After a moment of puzzling over this, it returned to its rucksack and started pulling stones out: the ones borrowed from this fort, and then the core of that other bone-creature that didn't get eaten.

"No bowl tonight, but here's some water," the ratling told the stone as it poured its waterskin over it. "Apologies for dragging you back into a place like this. I thought it wouldn't be this bad... Is it this bad everywhere?"

______

Eventually, when the rodent found sleep, the scenery that greeted it was hazy. It was like that other dream, with the heavy armor, except instead of the inside of a stable, the 'dream-self' was wandering through a rather open field with many tents and shacks set up with artsy-shops and foods that looked no more primitive than the ones encountered out in the villages and tribes. The people scattering about wore a mix of attire that might fit in the villages of the jungle, or perhaps even a larger city, and the sort of clothes that fit elsewhere in the dream-world: denim, t-shirts emblazoned with graffiti, gaudy sneakers.

As for the rat itself, its skin was back in its weird blend of human and river-monster: alone in the aspect of not looking entirely human, apart from a few others in the crowd who looks like foxes or cats, yet those people were the only ones to acknowledge the oddity. This festival must not have been centered around that part of the culture, but it was clearly a festival of some sort: how else would one explain peoples' friendly nature, all the cool music (even if lutes and mandolins were lacking in electrical input, the people playing them could certainly play; it was kind of relaxing amidst the crowds), and people posing with kitted out strangers for pictures?

The relaxed mood vanished the moment the creature found its way to the sparring grounds: somebody was getting absolutely trounced as armored onlookers laughed. As it wasn't a proper 'match,' there was nobody standing in to pull the two apart for a breather between rounds. At least with the blunted blades and heavier armor, the people in question weren't in much danger of suffering cuts, but...

"What's this?" the creature asked the onlookers.

"Just desserts. Guy picked a fight and now he's gettin' what he asked for," one of the three replied.

"Yeah, should'a known better than to come in here wearin' a feather on 'is sword," another clarified.

Oh. It was like that: the feather of having foes, and yet the creature's furrowed brow suggested there was a little more to the situation than the act of accessorizing.

"Really, if he didn't want this, he'd just take the damn thing off."

That was all the convincing the not-yet-ratling needed to slide over the sparring grounds' border and into the duel proper, intercepting a swing with another befeathered sword, and after a moment of acknowledgment from the assailant, a good few more swings while the previous combatant backed away to catch his breath.

"So who're you, his boyfriend or something?" the combatant asked between swings, hardly exerted from the fight so far.

No answer was given. Just another sword-swing, then another, parried with some degree of frustration. Truth told, this fighter knew his way around a sword and was clearly the better combatant when measured up against not-yet-Ratty, a tall yet clumsy figure coasting by on raw strength and only just recently acclimated to their armor. After a few minutes of trading blows, the warrior even managed to knock the sword from the new challenger's hand before beginning a rather relentless onslaught against the still-gripped shield.

What he wasn't prepared for, however, was a gauntlet-to-the-groin. It wasn't quite enough to bring him down, but it made his swings falter enough that the not-rat could get a good shield-slam in on the guy's helm, throwing him to the ground. From there, another swordsman stepped in, then another, then another...

By the end of it, the not-quite-a-rodent stood over the downed bodies of each fighter, its ears ringing from a few too many blows to the helm, its legs refusing to buckle under the intense fury and spite that carried it to victory, but they could at least be convinced to leave the sparring grounds. As it walked away, a voice could be heard from behind.

"Every day we stray further from the guidance of the lord."

It couldn't help turning back to face the quartet.

"And with each step taken we grow beyond what the lord would have of us. Learn from this, or accept your new home in the dirt. This is the way."

Having said its piece, the creature left the grounds and fist-bumped that first warrior on the way out.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

The room they were brought to was surprisingly clean, and contained comfortable bedding, it was still just mats on the floor but they were GOOD mats made of lots of soft cloth, with something firmer but still comfortable underneath the laying on bit, the room contained six of the mats, it seemed sleeping was a communal arrangement, a familiar concept to Ratty, like back home in the nest.
One of the mats was currently occupied by a chunk of heavy looking rock, presumably shaken loose by the fight, so it was good no one was sleeping during it, though if this was the room they gave to their saviour, it begged the question what the rest were looking like.
The stone was cold and quiet for several moments before giving a single, somehow reassuring pulse, the lack of any translation from Lumina implied that it wasn't saying anything, so perhaps the gesture was equivalent to a hug or pat on the head?

When morning finally came it was too soon, the rigors of travel and combat needed more than a single sleep to fully heal, and that dream likely hadn't helped.
"You were a warrior in the other world... A not unskilled one".
Lumina commented, it had as usual been watching the dream from the side lines, having started getting better at it.
"The Lizard companion has already awoken and exited the room, the human has not awoken".
Lumina explained, and indeed, Edric was also in the room, clearly in a deep sleep, borderline coma in fact, it was likely best to let him sleep, that ring seemingly had a lot of side effects.
"I suggest acquiring sustenance".

 

[Fyrra]

That was.... two dreams that included a direct and violent approach to conflict resolution, possibly three if that other one with all the screaming counted, and then there was that other one about being repeatedly hit in the head. At least the most recent iteration was not as intensely felt, and hinted at there being more to life than battle? The music was nice, and so was the dancing, but one couldn't quite dance in armor and a sluggish body. Really, the only answers that dream seemed to provide were hints at what that other voice was, and what the former, not-yet-ratling valued in life: planting lords in the dirt, apparently. Still nothing explaining the importance of that feather, and even less to answer the empty feeling that accompanied the fight itself.

So, perhaps the rat was not entirely changed from its former self? As it stirred from its restless slumber, it bore a grim grin, along with the unpleasant memory of how much getting smacked in the helm left a ringing in the ears. At least humans did not have sensitive hearing... in most cases.

Warriors of that world do not carry swords, the rodent acknowledged its internal companion as it dragged itself to its feet, but... I feel like you speak the truth? Like I did my fighting up close. - The interesting detail to take away from Lumina's statements regarding Lizzie and Edric was that they appeared to be awake and aware while the rat slept! And... apparently equally perturbed by the lack of food intake as the creature's own stomach, whose rumbles and protests had been ignored fairly often over the past week.

"Nnnf, fine, foooooood," the rodent mused aloud as it gathered its things, only momentarily noticing that it hadn't slept bundled up to its reptilian friend this time. That fight must've been tiring! In any case, Edric's ring was placed on the floor a meter or so away from him, and all the glowing rocks were piled up outside the room in case the other folk in the fort had any need for their stones, before the rat wandered off in search of either food or a more thorough post-battle report, whichever thing it found first. Really, anything to keep it from thinking about all the dead puppies it failed to rescue. At least the stench of burnt fur took the edge off of all the decay?

Perhaps the uhar would appreciate some help with the cleanup and maybe some herbal supplies.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Blows to the heard are ill advised... And difficult to repair, please avoid them in this body... And acquire a helmet when plausible".
Lumina advised in a dry tone, it hardly had to be said but considering it's host's tendency to get involved in dangerous situations, Lumina wouldn't feel right leaving it unmentioned.
It also felt a need to not let it's host have an inaccurate idea of it's abilities to rely on and spoke up to correct them.
"My awareness is... Limited while you rest, I often hibernate when you sleep, but even when I do not I am unable to detect accurately without access to your waking senses, if needed I can remain awake on watch at night though... If so I may be able to forcibly awaken you if I do detect something hostile, though I will need to rest at a later time in such cases".
They didn't say it outright but hibernating seemed to suggest that Lumina might actually need sleep? Apparently magical talking pearls needed that too.

The clean up was in full swing, much of the largest debris and all of the corpses had been removed, and now the Uhar seemed to be working on the smaller tasks, sweeping, supporting damaged areas with new stones or logs, and generally undoing the mess from the brief hostile occupation and battle.
More importantly however, the smell of food was filling the halls, meat and veg alike were being cooked in what would turn out to be a surprisingly functional kitchen, with multiple large flame pits being used to cook things, there were multiple Uhar with slightly different tattooed symbols that seemed to imply some sort of clan or tribal affiliation among them, they were focused enough on their cooking so as not to immediately notice their heroic rodent friend, so Ratty would likely need to alert them to any desires for food.
The elders were not easily found, but were likely somewhere central together to discuss things.

 

[Fyrra]

Wandering the halls, the rodent had little trouble expressing surprise at just how efficient the tribes were at cleaning up the mess created by their home's occupation. However long the creature was out clearly wasn't enough time to finish the job, but on top of all the corpses and debris being cleared out, food was not only being gathered but cooked for everyone. The uhar clearly knew what they were doing when it came to running their home and doing repairs. There was a lot to be said for being organized and having hundreds of hands, it seemed.

And, for what it was worth, the ratling enjoyed not being surrounded by admirers: the workers keeping their distance or merely not acknowledging a passing rat made it easier to adjust to waking up and negotiating terms with Lumina. Just a simple wave or a nod in passing to be polite, and it didn't quite matter whether the gesture was ignored or returned.

That's not a bad idea. I think we've been doing a good job of avoiding that so far, but if anyone can match the Syol in camouflage then our luck will eventually run out. Trading shifts isn't a bad idea either... but I'll leave that choice to you. We're in good company in this forest when we aren't chasing the largest threats we can find, so it shouldn't be necessary, but if you want some space without my input giving you cause for alarm, that's fine too. Would you like me to wake you up if I'm engaging anything interesting? Like... fashion? Or should I just stick to emergencies?

Upon reaching the kitchen, the smell of meats and veggies being seared over an open flame sparked ideas, and only most of those ideas involved getting in on what was cooking. The ratling sniffed, once and again, before wrinkling its nose in annoyance at the additional smell of kindling and its own singed fur. Perhaps it was the previous night's battle, or just the thought that a bath would be very nice, but the warmth just didn't feel very inviting this morning, not that such a thing would stop a hungry little gremlin. No, the only thing stopping the uncouth youth from slipping in and getting hands and whiskers on everything was a faint memory that people dislike finding shed hairs on their food.

"Hey, smells good in here," the young creature announced to the open room, "It's impressive how quickly everything's coming together. Was I out long enough to miss a hunt?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

From things mentioned by the Uhar so far it seemed that this fort might not be permanently occupied, or at least only had a very small amount of Uhar living there at any time, if so it likely needed cleaning and maintenance before winter habitation, so the Uhar were clearly quite experienced in making their home liveable in a short amount of time! Though with how fast the repairs were going one had to wonder if they might be able to assist in repairing other ruined structures? With sufficient time they might even be able to get the nest ruin cleaned up.
Of course there was the risk that they'd try to do it for free if Ratty wasn't able to immediately offer to pay whatever it was they might need or want.

One of the Uhar who was currently carving up a large chunk of red meat to add to the various cooking racks and stations turned to answer Ratty.
"Ahh, you slept quite long... The hunt was fast though, many hands make short work".
They explained as another chef came and took the plate of carved meat to cook.
"We know these woods well, this area is rich in food, though, most of this is to be preserved, the bad ones... They ate much of the winter stocks".
That did bring to mind what the Mul were thinking if they had already eaten all the winter stocks that were prepared for all of the Uhar... Though it might also explain the minimal resistance if they were gorging themselves into food comas!

"If hungry, grab from here".
One of the younger Uhar declared in a sort of stage whisper, pointing to a nearby table of various foods where the occasional Uhar stepped over to grab something, it was apparently self serve.
Notably the Uhar seemed to be incredibly casual with Ratty now, they had been on the verge of outright hero worship before but now were much more tame... Perhaps they had noticed Ratty's discomfort before and were now working to minimise it?

 

[Fyrra]

Between Edric's apparent knowledge of conductivity and the uhar's display of some degree of engineering knowledge, it was starting to look like the ratling's internal biases toward thinking the local cultures primitive were on the way to being proven incorrect. This.... was good, actually. The rodent may have only been pressured into accepting the 'gift' of a transformative ritual with the feeling that refusing would have been seen as an incredible insult after all the effort that went into setting it up, but it was quickly warming up to the idea of being compensated for services performed, even when those services began and ended with the eradication of something that, left alone, would quickly become everyone's problem and spiral out of control. There must be a term for this sort of job... Disaster Relief?

Between the sobering thought that it would be nice to have less work to do, and the cook stating 'many hands make short work,' the ratling suddenly remembered that it needed to visit the elf town again to meet with Pellinta again. Its ears flickered in response to the bit about the Mul feasting themselves upon the preserved reserves. With what assumptions could be drawn from the lich's personality, his minions were doomed even without a rodent rampaging through their fort. The little creature even groaned in frustration. "What a vexing thing. Will you be able to fix that in time for the season?"

The alternative to irresponsible overeating, of course, was that the lich was giving its servants no chances to replenish the food stocks, and demanding every slain carcass be brought to him first, but as one of the elders said in the aftermath of that confrontation, they were the uhar's problem now. Come to think of it, the uhar were acting different during this visit. Was it the result of that speech the rat gave, downplaying its own hand in that shroud nastiness? Or... no, Nulyth said she had something to say about the significance of the name 'uhar,' and Lord Bonehead mentioned that the Mul had a history of serving greater powers. Perhaps it was something to do with that? Of course, one could try asking.

The creature quietly thanked the other youth for pointing out the table before following them over to grab their own serving of... meat? Meat. After a quick nibble, the ratling suddenly remembered how hungry it was and started shredding more pieces of flesh from the main chunk with its incisors, listening to the worker that was humoring its attempt at small talk, but quickly deciding it might be better to stop bothering the kitchen workers when they had a lot of work ahead of them, and perhaps it would be better to avoid vocalizing sympathy for the Mul out loud, considering the lingering messes they've made, and their hand in the ritualistic sacrifices of, what was it, two hundred mortals? Yeah, maybe feeling bad about a prison guard's potentially painful-yet-unconfirmed demise was uncalled for. He knew what he was doing!

...right?

"Well, thank you for the food," the ratling called out to the cook, "may our next meeting be under less dire circumstances."

From there, it wandered back out into the corridors, then towards anything that could resemble a commons or a lounge, thinking that if it was going to find Lizzy or the elders, they would most likely be somewhere public. Failing that, well... maybe the creature could find something else to do?

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"That is a fitting title... Perhaps it could be a name?"
Lumina suggested, mentally trying out 'Disaster Relief' as a name before seemingly deciding against it.
"No... Not a good fit as a name... More as a title to come after a name".
Lumina's odd musings did bring up a valid point, if Ratty was going to be doing all this big things and getting well known, they'd eventually end up with a title that was a little less generic than the current ones, as such it might be best to come up with one in advance lest some random people assign a bad one instead.

"We should be able to stock up... It will be a slightly leaner winter than usual but there are more prey animals in the area than usual, the strange shroud seemed to have driven them out of their old regions... And for anything we do lack we can simply trade with the periphery settlements... Though things may be tense if the Mul had managed to make contact".
Well at least the Uhar were not going to starve as the result of this incident, the benefits of only taking what you need meant that there was always plenty left for times such as this! Though it was possibly useful to know that the periphery towns did some trade with the Uhar in addition to the Syol, trade links were always helpful in keeping peace.

"Indeed... I hope that when we next speak it will be a visit made of pure willingness and not a need for heroic action".
That sounded like a joke, at least partially anyway, it WOULD be nice to be able to visit friends and allies without needing to fight some stray eldritch horror or rogue magical device.
Helpfully, Ratty would find Pellinta wandering the halls! She also noticed Ratty and offered a friendly wave as she wobbled her way over, seemingly somewhat worn out, she also smelled of many burned herbs and other things.
"Ahh, our honoured guest, I am relieved to see you have recovered enough to walk, magical or physical exhaustion are bad enough on their own, but combined! I have seen more than one be left in bed for days... Myself included as a youngling".
She seemed in a good mood at least.

 

[Fyrra]

Relief colored the rodent's face as it relaxed with a sigh: food was a problem, but again, the uhar had both the hands and the material to survive the cold season ahead. This was well within the tribes' power, and if it wasn't, they had friends and connections. That just left the wandering ratling with its own nest's similar problems and time constraints, and for what those problems lacked in threat magnitude, they also lacked in stress. At least nobody would be starving.

Perhaps amusingly, the creature's internal musings appeared to lean toward the opposite of its actual motives. 'Disaster Relief' could be a good name for something, like an assembled crew, but it still liked the thought of being associated with destruction. Words like Hazard, Calamity, and Scourge flashed for a moment before almost immediately being vetoed either by Lumina or the rodent itself, but the creature still seemed amused by the thoughts. There was still something wrong with the idea of choosing one for a name, but between a frustrated impulse to just pick one at random and the buried memory of shouting out that something wasn't its name, choosing so lightly just wasn't going to happen. It could just change its name if something was wrong, but, something felt wrong about that as well, and once again the creature couldn't quite put a finger on it.

At least, not until it stepped outside of the kitchen to see... Pellinta? Right! All of these goblins and elves would never forget the name of their ally and benefactor! But what was Pellinta doing here? This was a long walk for her to be making through the forest. Why would- Oh, right.

"Mother Syol is here, too?" The ratling questioned, surprised to see the tall woman so far away from her home. "Right, right, apologies for our... absence, and lack of a bath. At least we've returned with an answer?" It took another bite and started chewing, not quite all the way awake but still too awake to simply lie back down. "Ah, that. Well, we do not enjoy frequent work, but we work hard when we do. 'tis a relief to know that this is... expected? Our new comrade appears to be in a worse state. Am inclined to leave him to sleep it off, but-" The creature swallowed what it was chewing. "Oh, are we both visiting Nulyth?"

Having food in its stomach did wonders for the rodent's temperament, apart from the time of day. It wasn't like the unpleasantness of rising at or before dawn, and between those two things and still feeling pretty great about slaying a lord, the ratling's demeanor would almost be cheerful if that wasn't held in check by still looking fatigued. Sleepy-cute?

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Indeed..."
She confirmed with a nod and a smile that betrayed her exhaustion, despite putting on a brave face she was not a youngling anymore and had been very busy aiding her friends.
"I and the other elders detected a rising darkness within the home of our Uhar friends, and I led a group to investigate, of course we arrived too late to be of use in combat but I have been making myself quite busy in dispelling the foul magics that the undead Saur left behind... It is sadly not a simple task in a place like this".
Pellinta didn't seem like the type of person to complain about a lack of comfort or luxury so it seemed much more like something about these ruins might make dispelling magic harder, which could certainly explain how so many of them retained their various enchantments and defences long after the original inhabitants were gone.

"Frequent work can be a rewarding thing, as long as you are careful to take appropriate rest, younglings may feel as if they can do anything but I have seen too many injure themselves by trying to do too much..."
She didn't go as far as to directly call Ratty a youth who was doing too much but the implication was certainly there.
"Actually... I had just finished Visiting Elder Nulyth, she actually desired to speak to you, she believes... You deserve an explanation, for what happened with the Mul".
The word was surprisingly natural for being a supposedly goblinoid term, though the goblinoid and elven languages were quite similar...
"Do be warned however, she is somewhat less tactful when it comes to telling the youth to rest".

 

[Fyrra]

Something about the thought of reinforcements during the previous night's battle stirred the ratling's combat senses enough to rouse it from its sleepy state, complete with an ear flicker, a yawn, and a suddenly more coherent gaze: an entire group of people experienced in spellcraft, wandering the halls of the shambling dead? "That would have been a disaster," the youth stated in as tactless a manner as it could muster, "I mean, better that you all are here to do the things that I cannot, but that person found a single-minded pursuit in extracting magic from living sources. Had he knowledge of more than elementalism, bones and binding, and had his wits sharpened enough to see through an obvious feint, we would be in a very different situation right now."

Cue another shred from the meat-skewer, and another chewing session. The ratling let the possibility of its own demise and power absorption go unspoken. Something about the name Saur seemed to ring a bell, like it had been heard before... a few times? The creature couldn't bring itself to expend the effort to dig for context, but it wasn't just that lord bonehead had a name that was interesting.

"Saur. You knew of him?" The ratling blinked, suddenly realizing what could have been a faux pas almost immediately after it asked. "Oh, right. He was complaining about his confinement and how he got pushed back from a reign of power. It'd make sense that the name was recorded somewhere." Between that and the lich's insistence upon the title of lord, that his name had possibly lost relevance must have been a sore subject.

In any case, the young rat met Pellinta's chiding to rest more with a chuckle, followed by an amused giggle. "Pffffftheheheh, well neither of you are wrong about that! Haha, I like to sleep late as it is, because not having work to do is a great feeling. Perhaps it's a difference of outlook, but if a job specifically calls for my attention, that's a sign that something is wrong. It's not always a magic weird-thingy that's frightening everyone from their nests and scrambling their memories, or an old bonebag-wizard with too much time on his hands that's making that everyone else's problem, but it's unusual for me to have more than one urgent matter in my lap in the span of a week, let alone five. These were just... I'unno, what do you call a problem that, left unchecked, will quickly spiral out of control? I only came here looking for puppies to pet."

The laughter died down for a bit as that thought resurfaced, and just as quickly did the rat-child's grin fade.

"Ugh, what even is this week, though? Body's going through weird changes, mood swings, two confirmed kills and two more awaiting confirmation, the uneasy feeling that there'll be more to follow, melancholy in general, situations where being good at breaking things is seen as a useful talent. I've heard the humans talking about this sort of thing: they call it... teenagers."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"I see... We were not going to simply storm the keep alone I would have you know... We had rallied with several groups of Uhar and many of our most skilled rangers, your intervention undoubtedly saved many lives but... You must not feel as if you are all that stands between us and destruction, you can rest and leave some of the dangers of this world to us".
She did hope it didn't sound condescending, she merely wished for Ratty to understand that they did not have to hold the safety of everyone on their shoulders alone, that the people of the forest could indeed defend themselves, even if at the cost of more lives than this situation has resulted in.

"Yes... We knew of him, though only after inspecting what little remained, it is a word that refers to the tainted undead who go on to taint others, he took it on as his name... We are fortunate that he was such a relatively weak and arrogant man, and that he had lost so much in his sleep".
She seemed to be implying that long periods of dormancy could somehow affect the abilities of undead, maybe that was why he seemed to use so few spells? Though there was also certainly some arrogance there as well.
"As for his history... Most of it is lost but what little I have read paint him as the youngest child of some magical family, who fled into the forest to train in dark magics and attain lichdom before being supposedly slain by a group of heroes... Clearly they were not entirely honest about their victory".

Pellinta raised an eyebrow at that comment.
"Ahh, indeed... The teen years are some of the strangest that is to be sure, though I believe yours have proven far stranger than any other before you... Such years can be... troubling, so in the possibility that you feel the need, you may seek me out to talk about anything you may be struggling with, I may be quite old now but I too was once young, and I am often called upon to speak with the growing youth".

 

[Fyrra]

"Well of course I'm not the only thing standing between survival and destruction: you've been doing quite well for far longer than I've been around, and you've come a long way from how things were when you'd first arrived. On top of that, rallying everyone and responding this soon after everything that's happened is beyond impressive: it's a smarter response than anything I could muster. It's just, if that adversary is what you call weak, then I'll have my work cut out for me in the coming seasons. I've but a narrow window to fix problems in this foolhardy manner," the ratling explained, feeling little need to clarify that eventually word might spread and potential adversaries would correctly judge the little furball as a threat. "But, my involvement was a foregone conclusion the moment the mul opened fire. Or the moment I traced the rot back here. I'unno, they made it so obvious that this was ground-zero for the rot that, at the time, it felt like those arrows could have been a cry for help. I suppose that's all the more reason to speak with mother-uhar. "

The rodent's laughter resumed, taking on a still-amused-but-slightly-vexed tone. Sure, the little mouse emerged from its nest swinging with the ferocity of an angry moose, but this planet probably had dire-grizzlies and wizard-hillbillies to balance out the lack of firearms, to say little of what was considered 'strong.' Further explanation of the lich's origin got the ratling to palm its face and sigh in disappointment. "Oh, he wasn't even a real lord. That's... ugh, I was all geared up to introduce myself as a lordslayer and everything. Oh well, there's always next cycle." If there was a lesson on arrogance to pull from this experience, this little rodent must have skipped that class, along with the lesson on not joking around with matters in which peoples' lives are on the line.

Perhaps that was why Pellinta seemed so difficult to read? Apart from the usual elven facial expressions, anyway. Joking about adolescence got such a solemn reaction that it was just a bit unsettling: sure, something did feel wrong, and it's not as though the rodent could explain what it was, but it didn't feel like a big problem either. Besides, what was one set of body-changes in the face of stopping two sources of 'all the plantlife is rotting and dying out' in the same week, apart from the potential of it snowballing into a big rat-civilization? It just seemed strange for Pellinta to offer her ears over this. It was almost as though she were acting as family.

"Oh, well, I do have a family for that, but it's appreciated. They're, ah..."

Dead to me.

Wait, no, that's wrong. What a strangely hostile thought.

"They're nice. The others think I'm a little weird, but it's not like I don't have people to talk to about those things. Magic's newer to them than it is to me, though. I'll drop by, we're neighbors." Cue a blink and a pause. "Wait, everyone's here? As in, the scouts and the rangers and my friends?" Cue another blink or three and an ear-twitch. "How long are they staying? I've secured approval from the elders on that matter, so there might not be a better chance. And then there was that thing you were working on..."

Yeah, the only reason 'rest' might be happening could be that Edric's incapacitation was forcing the issue.