Oasis

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Indeed... We were lacking in time to do much more than gather what forces we could and march towards this site, in a region with so much old death... A lich would grow his forces and power more with every passing day, and with the Uhar caught unawares they may not have survived too many days of delay".
After all the Uhar had been trickling in as small groups to investigate the sudden lack of communication from their winter home, which was how so many had been captured by the time Ratty arrived.
"Even so, if you had been within reach... I would have asked for you help, begged if required, it would shame me but you have proven to be an extremely competent solver of problems... And would surely have led to many fewer casualties if we were to storm the fortress, of course, you simply solved everything yourself".
Pragmatism despite her personal feelings of shame it seemed.

"Oh? I am surprised you can feel that... It carries the weight of responsibility... And quite a few spells and enchantments too of course, most tend to simply dismiss it as nothing.... Worry not though, it shouldn't cause any trouble for you, and this way it's much harder to lose".
Her tone was light, it would be difficult to work out if she was being entirely serious, though just a spell to make the ring harder to lose WOULD count as an enchantment.

"Indeed... it was natural that you would need to interact with the Periphery at some point if you intend to create any sort of lasting settlement in this region, their position makes them invaluable as a connection between our own settlements and the wider empires outside of this forest, without needing to worry about the difficulties that would normally accompany such commerce... And of course, they consider themselves something of a local peace keeping force, ignoring their recent... Inactivity, I am sure they would have sent a party to investigate your actions soon enough once they had heard of you".
She sipped some tea that had been sitting nearby.
"As for trading with them... The people of the Periphery are former adventurers and their descendants, their cultures and tastes are as varied as they come, they were also not originally dedicated craftsmen, while common foods and basic necessities of life such as furnishing are within their reach, they lack easy access to many luxury goods, so I would suggest finding something along those lines to offer".

"Yes... Long range communication is very useful... But it is also very difficult to learn, and even more difficult to maintain for more than a few words, I am cheating somewhat with mine by using such a powerful focus".
Presumably she meant her crystal ball.
"Being able to see who I am talking with helps as well".
She added.
"Those stones... I did examine some but they are made with a method of enchanting I am not at all familiar with, if you can decipher their secrets then you would be welcome to the ruins filled with them throughout this forest".

 

[Fyrra]

Well, Pellinta had opened up to the point of being very upfront about her methods and what to expect of her. As awkward as it was to hear about somebody saying they would have begged for help if necessary, the thought of mother-syol groveling stirred up a frown: how many cycles had this one endured, only for the habits of one deemed a lesser by societal standards to stay with her well past her prime? Once again, she had the rat thinking about things it possibly would have never considered with its short attention span and conversational habits.

"Don't grovel. If we are to survive, we should do so as equals, neighbors, and maybe even friends. Especially don't grovel to me. We can't have our people thinking strength sets a chain of command or respect among our people. But we can help one another." All in all, this was a significantly different response from the last disaster... in which Pellinta did cast her pride aside, and it moved the rat to drop what it was doing. Was that growth? "On that note, I should go find Nulyth. Maybe we'll get lucky and catch her at a meeting." The rat grinned at the thought of tactlessly barging in to interrupt something important. "Safe journeys, talk again soon."

And with a wave, the ratling was off, just as suddenly as it had appeared, leading Hin on another walk through the tents and the ruins, with but a few moments of awkward but otherwise pleasant silence once the creature was able to tune out the voices of other people passing by. The periphery settlements going silent was troublesome, but apart from the idea of isolationists suddenly cutting contact over a perceived slight, the other possibility was that something overran... all of them? What could have done that? If these were former adventurers, and adventurers were what sealed the lich in its little tomb to begin with, how long could investigating that be delayed?

For a moment the rodent pondered, once again curious about the kinds of talent it could pull from the other settlements, but Pellinta echoed what the leatherworker said some days ago and provided some reasoning behind the lack of complex goods: these were people whose primary skills were exploration and combat. And teamwork. And planning. If it came down to a fight, barbarian tactics would not last long against them. It might surprise a few, but they'd likely adapt faster than the lich did. It might not be long before some of them catch wind of a strong rodent: better not to encourage that any more than circumstances already have.

But what could a rat offer adventurers that they did not already possess? It had mostly the same knowledge, right?

~Ping~

No, it knew... the basics of a lot of otherworldly topics. Just not enough to replicate any of them, even if it had the tools on hand. And what the creature knew, it also knew it wasn't very good at any of them. It all sounded like work. Dreadful, boring work that required training and discipline, and patience. The only thing it enjoyed was music.

But, those basics and Lumina's magic were enough to save the life of somebody the rat almost killed, and idle thoughts were hard at work finding improvements for that scenario, in the form of frustration for not having something basic on hand. It probably wouldn't take much to find something to offer those people for trade: the ratling just needed to build itself a workshop, and more importantly, find somebody else to pass off as the inventor of anything it made.

"Thanks for coming with me, Hin. I know this is dreary, but there is something important to show you. We would rather keep it between as few ears as possible."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"I know... Groveling sets a poor precedent... But in the face of potential annihilation... I didn't have room to make such considerations, perhaps it is a bad habit of mine... When I first gained some measure of authority, we were always teetering on the edge of crisis, the towns and tribes would barely cooperate, the bonds with the Uhar were strong but they had issues of their own, and the influx of escaped slaves and refugees lead to food shortages and conflicts... Often I would need to beg, grovel or fight to make things work, it is only in recent years that last stability was achieved... And yet it was all upended so quickly".
The strain of past scars and stressed coloured her tone as she excused her habit of begging for aid, something she had seemingly developed due to the perpetual helplessness of her people.

"I will do better to act as equal neighbors, and will also do my best to ensure your people have far more stable formative years as they create their society... I am sure Nulyth would appreciate that, she has less patience for lengthy meetings than I and has seen no end to them with recent developments... Centralizing a nomadic people into a settled people is no easy feat, though at least many of them came from backgrounds that will help with that..."
She seemed to encourage the rat to go and interfere in important meetings, perhaps not the most mature advice.

Hin followed along quietly, he didn't have much else to do it seemed, not in what was currently most likely the safest place in the region anyway.
It was unlikely that the periphery had been overrun or otherwise destroyed, that kind of thing tended to lead to rather obvious consequences, such as refugees and human armies seeking revenge, Pellinta's tone also hadn't seemed quite heavy enough to imply that she thought that was possible.

Lumina was hard at work trying to think up ways to trade with the periphery... But almost excitedly pinged it's host as something occurred to it.
"The periphery is fille with former and active adventurers... Such jobs lead to many injuries, some... Not fixable with normal means".
Lumina drew a simple picture of a rat waving it's hands at a scarred stump.
"With work... And more power, repairing such losses may be possible..."
Of course they would likely need a far more intimate examination of the human body to be able to produce more than a cancerous lump of flesh when attempting such a complex repair, and they didn't have the benefit of the literal assembly guide that the Uhar had been able to provide.

"Alternatively..."
Lumina suddenly showed a crude image of a... Bicycle?
"This... Otherworldly creation... I have no memories of such a thing existing within this world... It offers benefits like a mount... With no concern for aging, disease or feed".
Lumina actually seemed quite impressed by it... And had also apparently been digging into the other worldly memories and saving things it liked?
Was Lumina perhaps bored? Or just trying to be helpful?

Hin shrugged in response to the thanks.
"I was going to be here anyway, better to follow a friend around than stand still or go on yet another pointless patrol... I do not think I have seen so many people in one place within the forest outside of the liberation festivals..."
That sounded like it could be a regular or semi regular event, maybe with food.
"Well I swear not to go spreading... Whatever it is you will show me, I know the value of secrets".

 

[Fyrra]

As more time passed after the meeting with Pellinta, the little rat-monster slowly started to realize that she was having a rough time of everything. She held together pretty well, considering everything that's happened in the past week, but disaster after disaster had certainly taken their toll. No wonder she was so quick to encourage the rodent's disrespectful way of just barging in, but it did raise the question, was that from Pellinta enjoying the novelty of having somebody who could get away with acting brash, or another extension of her habit of trying to appease somebody who could become a threat if offended? Or, was this just one of the few times the ratling acted as young as it looked?

Perhaps... the rodent could be a little softer around her? Or kinder in general? How many times had it responded to Lumie with the abrasive tone that other voice had?

In any case, this was clearly a lot, and pondering with Lumina about a different subject was not just welcome, but exciting! Imagine: bicycle jousting! That's certainly never been done befo- well, it'd never been done here. Apparently the thought of combining two wheels with a cushion wasn't very novel out here, let alone adding a steering bar to it. As for the other idea, well, it was the opposite of not advertising the presence of a magical anomaly, but what was a rodent to do in a situation with strangers in need? Not share witchcraft with the world and get these people to have disagreements with the church? Besides, heavily armed strangers who lived in the jungle were just friends waiting to be made. Mostly.

Clearly something has upset the local adventurers into silence. Something like an elf telling people to stay out of the ruins? Oh. Oh, right, that was the rodent's doing. And a lich? A lich that adventurers had supposedly slain many many moons ago. Yeah, most people would be a little shy if they could sense things like a great darkness swallowing up a town. All the more reason to prepare for surprise guests.

"Mmn. You are all my people, I would murder any number of bony old wizards to see you not just living, but thriving out here. In cold blood." The creature faced Hin, flashing a cheery grin. "Our next mission should not beg such a response though... There is no need to swear yourself to secrecy. At least not here. There have already been witnesses."

Looking around, the rodent stopped. "Hm. There's not a mustering grounds around here, is there?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lumina seemed to disapprove of jousting... It was a needless danger that could lead to it's host being wounded after all... But also, and perhaps this was it's host's memories rubbing off on it... But Lumina did not like the idea of having a hand in something to be turned into just another tool for combat, making a spell for it's host or a weapon for defense was one thing, but something intended for non violent use being turned into such a tool was a horrid thought.
Briefly, Lumina did start to wonder what it was created for... But quickly squashed the stray questioning, there was no way to find out and really, it was too much trouble to be concerned about right now with so much going on, all that mattered was that it would aid it's host in gaining strength and accomplishing goals.

Instead Lumina focused on offering helpful advice in the moment!
"Adventurers... Living on the edge of civilization... They seem to prefer privacy, perhaps they would be less willing to report such things to a central authority?"
There was also the fact that adventurers were likely to be a lot more experienced in the ways of the world, and able to accept strange things and unique people without calling for an inquisition... After all they until recently had friendly relations with a society born of scattered tribes and escaped slaves.
And who knows?... Maybe they had a few among them who were less than fond of the churches... It took a certain kind of person to both become an adventurer on the fringe of society AND survive long enough to retire and set down roots after all.

Hin flashed a grin right back.
"Well, I hope you don't have the opportunity to murder many more bony old wizards... You deserve a break more than anyone here".
There was also the unspoken issue, that if more of the ancient horrors of this great forest were to begin waking... It would likely end up drawing a lot of attention, not to mention the potential casualties.
"A mustering grounds?... Our... Armed forces such as they are, are not really a professional standing army, there's nothing so complex as that, I suppose this old fort probably has a training ground that wouldn't be in terrible shape?"

 

[Fyrra]

Sensing distaste at the idea of jousting, the rodent countered its argument with thoughts of how dumb and inefficient the idea was for actual combat: a bicycles wheels were an easy enough target for disruption, and the chain to the pedal was another, but most importantly, the entire thing depended on the rider's legs being in motion to maintain power, and taking one's hands off the steering handle made any physical impact at all a risk for crashing, assuming a rider was even capable of maintaining enough balance to keep the contraption upright without at least one hand held fast. Inefficiency never really did stop the human spirit when it had a way to clown around though. For a moment the creature also pondered about why the device would be immune to aging... until it remembered that aluminum was a lightweight metal that didn't rust. Yeah, that'd do it: a bicycle could run forever with just a little periodic maintenance, and.... oil for the chain? And occasionally fresh rubber tubes for the tires?

This sounded like either a headache or a multiple-person project, but more than that, a reason to learn how to delegate tasks to other people. There might not be a greater gift for the outsiders of civilization though. This was certainly how to leave a lasting impression upon one's frontier neighbors.

Hin's response about the mustering grounds left the rodent at a pause: it must have asked the wrong question, if Hin was talking about soldiers, but the training grounds could be useful if a rodent weren't otherwise engaged with errands, but at least he was starting to engage the rat in uncomfortable subjects. Maybe he didn't like sidestepping the subject of just what the young rat's line of work was? Or maybe he noticed the way it was said was just a little uncomfortable. Either way, a big open area would probably be the place to find at least one of the elders, if the magic-wielders were up top instead of downstairs trying to clean the place up: a big open area would be the place to receive more guests, unless it too was full of tents.

But then again, this was still over complicating things. There was a much easier solution than just scouring the entire fort room by room. The rodent stopped and waved the nearest adult-looking uhar over for a quick question: "Hey, where would I find the elders?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Lumina seemed to approve of the recognition of how terrible an idea bicycle jousting would be, though did gain new concerns at the mention of aluminum, this was not a metal Lumina had encountered, or even knew of, if that was a must have for bikes, then it may put the project in jeopardy!
Even if the metal ore did exist in the world, Lumina knew nothing of how one would go about processing it, which was odd as it at least knew the theory for other metals such as iron or even steel, magic might make said process easier, but as far as Lumina's admittedly outdated and rather... Incomplete knowledge went, there was no magic to create a lightweight metal that matched the one in the other worldly memories.
And that wasn't even going into things like rubber, while Lumina could compare Aluminum to other metals, there was no reference for a material as odd as rubber... Or knowledge on how to make or find some, though it would certainly be useful if they could.
At least oil made sense, Lumina knew of all sorts of oil used for things like food or massages!
Though it doubted even the gods would know where it got THAT knowledge from... Maybe massages were just somehow useful to it's host? Or an interest of it's last host...
That thought stopped Lumina for a while, and it retreated into it's own core for a while.

The uhar seemed surprised at being addressed, looking around as if expecting to find someone important next to or behind them, before finally realizing that yes, they were the one being addressed and speaking up.
"Oh! They are... In the big tent? That one".
The uhar pointed out a tent slightly larger than the others, of circular build, with a gap at the top that was venting smoke, while the other tents were mostly plain or with some small decoration, this one had many symbols and runelike objects sewn into it, perhaps some sort of ceremonial tent designed for meetings between the tribes? If so the symbols that adorned it's surface were likely culturally important or at least tribal emblems.

The elders would indeed be found within, all of them drinking tea, taking a break from whatever difficult subject they were speaking about, and it was certainly difficult judging by the large amounts of maps of various quality, and several sheets of hide parchment with what was recognizable as numbers and figures... And exchange rates of certain goods?
Complicated adult stuff to do with economy and territory most likely, which made sense, suddenly going from mostly nomadic to mostly settled probably brought up a lot of logistical and boundary issues.

 

[Fyrra]

Not having aluminum wasn't the setback the rodent's symbiote was making it out to be: humans were weirdly strong in this world, and even if they didn't match up to the mallard, they still led lives a lot more physical than those of the rat's point of origin. The prototype didn't need to be an aerodynamic device built for stunts and catching air than it needed shifting gears for uphill climbing; all it needed to do was perform well on roads and not fall apart, but maybe brakes were still a good idea. As for rubber, it was made from tree sap! And it was... not for children? Really? Those memory-locks really needed a lesson in consistency. Well, one barrier at a time. The duo could start by getting a workshop set up for these experiments, and maybe work out the features of the contraption's hill-climbing variant some other day.

Or... maybe let those ideas cook for a bit longer, if Lumina needed some alone-time? Having a former host was certainly a significant memory to dig up. Might explain how to know somebody was 'just showing off' with the way the airflow was set up back home. Maybe more would come back with time?

All this time spent conversing with Lumina must have been a little awkward for the uhar civilian, what with the ratling in its torn and singed robe spacing out and staring at them after asking a question that should have a relatively apparent answer. The creature made things awkward again... but just as suddenly, it gave the fellow jungle-dweller a nod and a verbal 'thanks' before wandering off to the tent, and then inside, with little regard to whether a guard had the initiative to obstruct the rodent's progress. Well, maybe a little regard, but if there was a guard present, this was probably one of those places where a seemingly absent-minded rat-person interrupting a meeting could be assumed as a necessary interruption. But hey, it was very convenient that almost everyone important to the conversation was present: a better opportunity would not present itself without some effort.

"Hello, hello, apologies for disturbing you all. And, further apologies, it seems: that is an awful amount of parchment and this will certainly complicate things further."

Seems the novelty of barging in and stirring up the nest couldn't quite overpower the ratling's sympathy for having a lot of work to deal with. Good start, though: for some of these elders this was a first impression. Better to not do irreparable damage here.

"So, before everything else, you have my gratitude for letting us stay with you these past few days. At the risk of repeating it too often, it has been a pleasure. May the next time be under circumstances less dire..." The youth trailed off, before suddenly changing its tone to something less foreboding and more upbeat. "But on that subject, our new friends downstairs have decided they want to teach some people how to work the land and grow crops. They still need some time to rest up after that incident the other night, but that gives me time to go secure the relevant tools: a mere walk in the woods compared to my usual work."

Well, that last part wasn't exactly relevant, but maybe somebody here appreciated jokes and wasn't horrified by their implications?

"Right, so, first question: do you want in on our little project? We are planning to share most of what we grow between our settlements until the needs of our nest require otherwise. Second question: is everything okay? As much as I cherish a day with nothing to do, and this past week has been exhausting, we are neighbors, and your problems are sort of also my problems. If anything comes up, you can ask for help. We might need some time before we can host guests though."

Inhale. Exhale. That was a lot.

"Okay. Third question: any questions for me?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Tree sap?... Well, Lumina didn't know of any such thing, but there were certainly a lot of trees to be found in the area, and many types of tree at that, so at least they would have plenty of saps to try and turn into this 'rubber' thing that was supposedly not for children, did that mean it was dangerous? Or just too valuable to be handled by someone young?
Though the mental image of the 'bike' seemed to imply rubber was quite durable...
Briefly Lumina imagined making armor out of this new material, if it was light and durable enough it could offer full coverage! Though that all depended on how good it was against being hit or stabbed... Something for the future perhaps.
All these thoughts came before Lumina retreated into it's core, of course if Ratty needed it, Lumina would come out immediately, always being there to be reached as long as it wasn't 'sleeping' from lack of energy.

Oddly the Uhar didn't seem to mind that Ratty was off in their own world in the slightest... They DID someone associate them with a legendary hero who had contact with spirits, so maybe they just assumed that kind of thing was happening?
Communing with the spirits casually in front of others, and to be fair, they WERE communicating with a disembodied presence with strange powers... Maybe Lumina counted as a spirit in the loosest sense?

Honestly the assembled elders seemed relieved to have some sort of interruption, they were leaders yes, but their daily duties usually amounted to giving advice and making sure they had enough food stocks and no one was sick or injured.
But now? They had to deal with working out what territory their new settled nation would include, work out boundaries and resources and numbers, see who had what and how much food they could produce, they at least had the benefit of fairly thorough record keeping, a shared language and decent literacy rates but even with that, the interruption of perhaps the most interesting visitor in a generation was quite welcomed as a break from so much reading and debating.

One Uhar, the only one with glasses which seemed to actually be quite well made with metal rims seemed to decide to speak to their visitor before the others could make a decision.
"Ahh of course, you are a welcomed guest among the Uhar and sheltering and caring for guests is merely basic politeness".
He seemed quite well spoken, not that the Uhar were slack jawed bumpkins but there was a certain rural charm to them that this Uhar lacked.
None of them chose to respond to the comment on how much parchment they were dealing with, firmly choosing to put it out of mind for as long as they possibly could.

The talk working land and growing crops DID earn some interested sounding noises which the well spoken Uhar allowed to fade before speaking up.
"We had, in fact, been discussing such things prior to your welcome interruption, as a nomadic people foraging and minor herding was more than enough to keep us all fed, but with the decision to settle down more permanent agriculture would certainly have become a necessity... As such we would of course be pleased to contribute in any way possible, we do have access to funds that could be used to purchase or produce essential equipment of course".
He sipped the strong smelling tea that they all seemed to have to soothe his throat before addressing the other questions.
"There are... Many minor issues of course, but these are all of the sort to be negotiated away, and not something that others would be able to resolve for us".
He assured the rodent hero, all their current issues were simply disagreements and some minor diplomatic issues, alas, such issues were generally not best dealt with by tooth and claw.

"Ahh... Well, we did not have many questions for you, as far as we are concerned your business is your own unless you ask for aid... At least, for the most part".
So it seemed they DID indeed have a question that also seemed to make the speaker somewhat awkward compared to his prior confident tone.
"That is, we were wondering what your plans were? In the long term, you are a new people to us, and while if the rest of your people are even a fraction as friendly as you are I am sure your people will make good neighbors, but... As I am sure you can understand, such a large potential change to this region has caused some nervousness".

 

[Fyrra]

A silent and listening room: what an eerie feeling. The ratling let its gaze wander over the crowd, not trying to single any familiar faces out, but still taking in the sight. That nobody asked for a name was something of a relief in its own right, almost as much as the lack of pressing concerns, but the mention of wealth for acquiring tools and such was even better: the rodent could supply extras to the farmers without dipping into its personal funds as it originally planned, and distribute those amongst the apprentices for them to keep after they learned all they could.

As for the questioning of the rat's plans? That caused a slight tremor of anticipation that Lumina might feel. No fear, just the desire to do anything but address something specifically. It needed a moment to think about how much to share, because there were plans, and countermeasures, and back-up plans, and things to do to pass the time, and fun pursuits that were bound to upset the world at large. Where would one even begin? With a summary? All in all, the majority of the rat's plans led to a single concept that could be described as... destroying the world? Well, maybe it shouldn't lead with that.

"Nervousness? Heh, someone's been talking about me." The rat smirked. "Guess it can't be helped."

"We are in the same boat," the creature corrected its course, "A week ago, my people did not know walking on two legs like this was something we could do. Most of us are intrigued by the idea and have expressed a desire for it, so that will keep me occupied for a time. That, building a farmhouse, fixing up the nest. Food will become a concern for us as well once we figure that out."

Cue a blink, a forehead rub, and a slight frown.

"I have learned of the migration. Most of us are too young to take this story in, to understand it. The kittens will need to know at some point, but it illustrates too well why our elders and ancestors preferred isolation. To know that that is what we are dealing with outside this jungle, allow us to just say that we would be proud to call you our neighbors."

The plans, though? The creature might have been trying to determine how much it should share, before deciding it should at least show the uhar a little trust.

"It's... just me, though. I was supposed to just be a scout, but I'm bad at that job. Our hunters are past their prime, the rest of us are kittens, there is much jungle to clean up, I cannot find other nests to bring back to mine, and if somebody out there is smart enough and has the funds to send people out this way in search of magical artefacts, then the moment word gets out that there is a single rat at the root of a number of their expedition parties suddenly vanishing, they will likely come stir up a fuss and I need to be ready for that."

Okay, deep breath. Inhale, exhale. Focus on the short-term. Everything can be broken down in to little pieces.

"Right, plans, not rat problems. A moment." Once more. In. Out. "Forgive us, it is much to hold in. All of that aside, our plans? Just, watching over our nest, mayhap build some stuff, improve society a wee bit, see what this periphery is about." The creature paused for a moment. "....mmmmmmmitigate threats from the people that hate it when society is improved a wee bit."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

The revelation that Ratty has only recently become able to walk on two legs caused a ripple of visible surprise, they knew that their mysterious benefactor came from a hidden and undeveloped group of course, but not quite THAT undeveloped, many of them couldn't help but wonder if Ratty was in fact also a product of the strange magical events and awakenings that had been occurring all over the great forest...
Albeit a far more benevolent and helpful event than the others so far.
There was no sense in dwelling on that however, if anything a magical origin would just add to any sense of kinship, as the Uhar like all goblinoid races were well aware of their own distant origin as a magically created race after all.

With a sigh the well spoken Uhar elder nodded his confirmations that people HAD indeed been talking about their rodent shaped hero.
"I can't deny that... A lot of people have been speaking of you, many already see you as a great hero but... There are also some who worry, especially among the older members of both the Syol and Uhar, you came out of nowhere and became so powerful so quickly, and the revelation that there are more of you, even if they are not quite to your level... It frightens some people, it is a very large change in an area that does not usually change much".
It seemed he had decided to just be frank with them, Ratty had earned that much.
"I am sure with time... As your people build up and prove their lack of negative intentions, that the naysayers will come around too".
It made sense, the sudden appearance of a new civilization would unsettle even the most secure of peoples.

 

[Fyrra]

Confusion coloured the rodent's face for a moment, until it remembered that few outside of Nulyth's group and a few people from Enial had seen it before the ritual had taken place. Perhaps that was supposed to remain a secret? It might be better not to name-drop one of the elders as the catalyst for this potential wave of change, but chances were it would have happened anyway with Lumina's help, and the spirits were simply helping their medium encourage the process along.

The lack of answers regarding not finding any other rats in the jungle was its own disheartening mess, but maybe other rats were just better at hiding. In any case, the ratling rubbed at its brow with a fingertip, just a little frustrated with the idea that the other rats would have to prove themselves trustworthy. It... sort of made sense, but at the same time, it felt like the bespectacled stranger just voiced the notion that saving everyone from two calamities was not enough to earn trust: technically true, if one subscribed to the belief that trust could only be given and not earned, but good gravy did facing the inconvenience of that belief sting.

"You realize we are just rats, yes? We forage and burrow and hide, most of us are too young to wander off alone. To be seen by a biped is.... was, the most frightening thing. For most of us." That's right, this was still about the ratling itself, and its knack for getting into fights that no sane anything had any business getting into. "Right, change. Change is stress and anxiety; no wonder they are up in arms. Our elders will likely be as well."

The creature paced about, pondering.

"Fame, power, and wealth are not things we desire, but it troubles us to know that, even with our strength, there are still singular entities that pose a danger to us. We had little choice but to adapt, but reproducing our results with another rat would border on impossible, even for us. Still, we hope that things will work out that we grow together and treat one another well, even when we are not faced with a situation where something threatens your nest and will soon threaten ours. If that is everything, we look forward to working together to bridge our communities, and will return in some time."

With that, the creature turned about and led Hin back into the keep, through the main entrance and down the stairs, back to the shared room with the humans. Assuming they were present, the ratling waved hello to them before gesturing to Hin.

"Edric, Gora, this is Hin. Very dependable guy, sincere to the point of discomfort for most people, and a great friend to have. You might be seeing more of him in the coming season."

"Hin, this is Edric. Short of getting in front of the old bonebag and agitating him like I did, he did all of the hard work in that little incident the other night and still held his own in the confrontation. Very resourceful; could not have saved everyone without him and emerged with all of my limbs intact."

"This is Gora. He is remarkably friendly, given the stressful week he's had."

The rodent sauntered over to its little pile of rocks and picked one of them up before looking between the three, its grin dropping to a slightly more serious expression.

"As for why we are all here, this is something we would like to keep under a need-to-know basis, had we not already performed this in front of an audience. It is a taxing magic, but this time we will have a power source on standby. Our objective here is both simple and complex: we aim to make it stop hurting."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"I would have been able to do it... Eventually".
Lumina declared, confirming that the actions of the spirits had indeed just sped up what would have slowly happened over time anyway, probably with a lot more rocks eaten without it to power the ever mana hungry Lumina, who at least seemed to not be constantly starving to death since the ritual... Maybe a bigger body had led to more energy for Lumina?
It was possible that the assembled elders simply didn't have anything to report on finding nests... Or even might not know, after all the only ones who had been directly informed were Nulyth and Pelinta, and they seemed like quite the discrete types, if they considered it Ratty's business might they have only informed those essential to search for more nests?
In which case it would likely just be a few trusted scouts who were scouring for the nests.

"I do believe that is part of the concern some people have... You are 'just' rats, and yet look at what you have accomplished?"
He gestured around them, as the mere fact that they were there and talking was only due to Ratty.
"But as I said, it is only a minority with such concerns, those living within the deepest woods, who have not met you and are most fearful of outsiders and new, powerful beings interrupting their peace".
It seemed this particular elder didn't have any misgivings about Ratty, but was merely warning them that there were some who DID have fears and suspicions, however unfounded.

"Of course, while it may not matter too much in the grand scheme of things, my personal thoughts are that I welcome new, friendly neighbors in this vast forest, we have few enough friends in this world and spurning the opportunity to gain more would be most unwise".
The other elders seemed to agree, they all looked rather old, perhaps even old enough to have remembered meeting the Arraness and being saved by them...
"Of course, you are welcome to return later... We will likely remain here for some time yet".
The elder assured them with a sideways glance at the piles of documents they had yet to go through and discuss.
Hin stayed quiet as they moved, seemingly in thought, had what the elder said affected him? At this point he certainly saw the rat as a reliable friend and ally, and he had not personally seen anyone with doubt... Then again, his home village were those most likely to support their new neighbor, having been on the frontline of some of it's antics...

Edric and Gora were sitting together, drinking something strong but not alcoholic smelling, both were looking much better after their rests, especially Edric who no longer looked like a sallow skinned skeleton now that he was no longer magically pushing past his immense exhaustion, Gora's arm was no longer wrapped but had a rather horrific looking scar, not quite fully scarified and very jagged and rough, following the pattern of his burn, notably both had also changed into clean clothing and washed up, a welcome change after many days running and fighting in a jungle!

Hin didn't really think he was THAT sincere, most people didn't seem to be uncomfortable when he spoke... Visibly at least, though he did not object audibly, not really sure how to refute it.
Edric meanwhile seemed abashed, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand.
"I didn't do THAT much... You definitely made it all possible".
While Edric had accepted the fact that he played a big part in the recent situation, it was entirely impossible that they would have succeeded without ratty.

Gora nodded in greeting, raising his mug of liquid with his good arm.
"Does no good to be upset at those with no hand in my troubles, just makes more troubles".
He explained, taking a sip of his drink and wincing slightly, clearly it was more medicine than beverage.
The three men all gave themselves approving nods, not speaking further, there would be plenty of opportunities for such talk in the future if they were to be working with or around each other, knowing Hin's luck he would need to be on hand to take care of any misunderstandings.

Needless to say the three of them were quite interested in whatever it was their ratty companion intended to show off, or indeed how rocks would play into it, and as such Ratty had their full attention.

 

[Fyrra]

There was something the elders weren't understanding, but maybe it was for the best that it was getting lost in translation. Sure, they could acknowledge that a rat was just a rat, but in the face of everything this rat accomplished was the possibility that it had something wrong with it. Something like... no survival instincts, and a fight-or-flight response that veered in the wrong direction when confronted with a predator species in hot pursuit. What was the first thing it did upon waking up again? Stalk a group of three bipeds and a mage, and assassinate their leader? By climbing up the mage's tail? Emphasizing that most of the other rats weren't nearly that wily might have been for the better in the long run, but the locals could learn that for themselves later: diplomacy tends to fall apart when the person doing the talking says their teeth foam up, or something.

Besides, what was a rat to do, find some other burrow to make a nest out of? Something a serpent would find cozy enough to slither into? No, crazy got the job done. Those heat-stones might still attract reptiles though; maybe something should be done about that. But later! Just like with the elders. Barging into their workspace wasn't as enjoyable as anticipated, but it was more or less good to get everyone on the same... page. Or not start an argument about the merits of not tangling with The Lord and displaying a terrifying level of resourcefulness. Yeah, it was just as well that the creature departed as abruptly as it barged in.

Large groups of people were exhausting without loud, overbearing music to take the edge off of conversation. And small groups were easier to create misunderstandings with, if the rodent weren't all but certain the common reaction from its friends was to take commentary in stride. Like Hin! Maybe it was mean to sum him up like that, but the rodent had no other way to reason out flat out being told that, if he found the rat to be a danger, Hin would not hesitate to put a feather in its back. Or neck. Or put himself in harm's way. Yeah, that memory was still lingering: it was so jarring to see that from an outside perspective, and maybe being upset about Hin's disregard for safety made the rodent a tiny bit of a hypocrite. He was a friend. And maybe these two other guys could be friends too.

"See? Remarkably friendly. Abstaining from the sailor-talk, even. Now, we hate to say this, but we need your help, and for that we need you awake. If something hurts, let me know and I can slow down, or give you a moment to catch your breath. Now, if somebody could hold that sleeve away from the scarring, we can get started."

Stones in one hand, the rodent flexed its fingertips, closed its eyes, and summoned up the magic, before reaching out to Gora's good arm.

"Analyze cellular structure. Tissue sample." The creature had already run a diagnostic on Gora's body, but a detailed blueprint of Gora's arm would be vital for a first-time operation on human flesh, and while there weren't any instructions on how to create human flesh, the rodent had a way around that that Lumina could work with, and was somewhat confident this method could be reproduced with a number of living creatures. On that subject, humans were not symmetrical creatures, but the arms might as well be.

Identifying the subject's blood type was step one, and obtaining an organ layout was step two: if ever there was a reason not to trust a mage to go mucking around in someone's body, it was the chance of the body rejecting magically-created organs over something a society without microscopes would reasonably not understand, or the chance that a mage would cut corners and stretch muscle tissue to cover a flesh gap just to speed the process along. The other important thing to take from the tissue sample was the cell structure: if Lumina could work out how a nucleus functioned, the rest of the operation would be trivial.

"Now the other arm," the rodent mused as it pointed its fingertip toward Gora's other side, awkwardly leaning until it touched one of the un-scarred portions. What was the problem again, besides missing chunks of flesh? An infection? And the burns and scarring... Yeah, better that it was the fire-trap and not the toxic javelin that skewered Gora's former employer: messing around with magical antibiotics and antivenoms could be an experiment for another day.

"Mitosis." Just a pinch, here and there. "Mitosis, mitosis." The idea was to let Gora's body do some of the work in repairing the flesh, and once Lumina had a feel for it, fabricating the process with magic. This part was the most likely risk of causing a tumor to appear, as reproducing cells and not letting them die off was... pretty much what a tumor was. So, just a few trace amounts of the process, before the creature turned its palm upward and tilted its fingers downward, imitating a pouring motion for its magical energy.

"This next part is going to sting. Deep breath, in and out, maybe look away for a bit."

And then, "Dampen. Mend."

Thus, it copied the process from the previous healing, letting its magic seep into the wound and disinfect the scorched parted directly. Once that was done, the creature had the idea to relax Gora's nerve tissues: even if it was just for a few hours, he might appreciate numbness over inflammation, especially while his subdermal flesh was being broken down and reformed around his arteries and veins. That was actually the reason the rodent had its eyes closed: a visual feedback on top of the magical sensory was just a little too much to bear, but if there was a better way than to start from the inside and break down the dead flesh and work one's way up, the creature hadn't thought of it. Keeping the process slow did allow for time to just pull remove anything that hadn't formed correctly, however.

For a good twenty minutes or so, the rodent moved its fingertips about, tugging its magical energy closer and closer to the surface, before it finally drew one of the stones to its lips and set it in its mouth. Once again, it swallowed the thing whole, and then continued to work on Gora's arm, even repeating the process on his scar tissue.