Tunnel Rat

Chapter 219: Spoils of War

It had been a tiring night for Gendifur. Cleaning the girls up had been a chore after they played tag with Tallsqueak. It took forever to comb out their burned fur and get all the soot and dirt cleaned off of them. Rosie and Buttercup were still excited about the game. No one had ever thrown explosive spells at them before. At first, it had scared them, the way the loud noises in the big fight had frightened them. Tallsqueak had explained things to them, and they had clapped with childlike glee. Scary noises were just another way to fight! After that, they chased him as hard as possible, trying to dodge his explosions while hunting him. They were getting better, but each time they got close, another bone bomb rolled in front of them and exploded. Dinner had arrived too soon, as far as they were concerned. They were already looking forward to the next time they got to play.

After dinner, during 'quiet down time,' they asked Gendifur when they could learn to make bone bombs and throw them at people. Gendifur didn't want to try to explain to them how hard learning spells would be, so she pushed that talk off to another day. "Everything in time, my little dears. First, you must finish your Claw and Tail lessons with Larry and Master Gilad. After that, your father will show you how people fight with weapons and shields. After that, if you want to try, we will work on learning to cast simple cantrips."

Three Hamster Huey stories had finally gotten them to close their eyes.

When the noise of a horde of armor and weapons crashing to the floor woke them up, Gendifur decided it was Daddy's night to put them to bed. Mama found her hidden jar of chocolate-covered cheese balls and took a break.

Tallsqueak went to find the other Masters but barely got outside the front door when he was attacked. He leaped forward, rolled, dodged to his left, and came up with two spells ready to cast, only to find Tweedle and Ringtail leaning against the wall of the house, trying unsuccessfully to look bored.

"Look, brother! It is our good friend Tallsqueak."

"Indeed, I would recognize him anywhere, even if he wasn't rolling and dodging."

"He's pretending to be a Sorcerer now..."

"Yes, he looks quite fierce!"

"It's as if he felt threatened for some reason."

"Remember who he lives with."

"Oooh, true. I feel threatened just thinking of Brutus."

"I did not mean Brutus, but he is quite threatening."

"True. I see your point. Perhaps he was running from Gendifur?"

"No, he likes Gendifur. See how often he fakes an injury to lay in pain in her clinic."

"They are very close."

"That only leaves one conclusion, brother..."

"I agree; he is threatened by us!"

"We are scary scouts who scout scary things."

"Speaking of scary things..."

"We heard a scary noise while waiting to scare you."

"Like a million coins fell to the floor at once..."

"...and cried out, 'Come play with us!"

Milo shook his head and looked at his two assistant scouts. "Let me guess, you want to know what the noise was but are afraid of entering the house without an invitation."

"Truly, a wise Scoutmaster."

"He sees through us with ease."

"I have a mission for my brave scouts. Find all the masters on the council, Old Healer and Bleusnout. You can escort them to the inner caverns and see the huge pile of interesting stuff I found."

Tweedle and Ringtail smiled and took off at a sprint. Tallsqueak went back inside the house to watch Brutus and the girls while he started sorting out the piles of stuff in the ring.

Brutus donned his armor to safely give Buttercup and Rosie an impromptu lesson in swinging weapons around. Both girls had selected large bashing weapons to play with; Rosie had a large two-handed maul, and Buttercup was swinging a large mace. Milo looked at both weapons to make sure they weren't something potent like the Mace of Armageddon. They were magical, but only minor enchantments. He looked from the girls to Brutus.

"Is letting them play with weapons safe?"

Brutus shook his head. "Not for me, that's for sure! But with how excited they are over this load of treasure, I'll never get them to bed without burning off some of their energy. Weapons practice against me should do it. And as a bonus, Gendy will have to take care of my bruises later. She's good at that." He smiled and walked off, humming a cheerful tune.

The girls saw him coming and charged at him. Brutus let them come, even taunting them. Rosie started swinging her hammer but over-balanced and fell to the ground, unused to the momentum. Buttercup went to slam Brutus with her mace, but he stepped to the side and tripped her. As both girls stood back up, they nodded, coordinating their next attack. Things didn't go well that time, as Brutus tricked them into swinging at each other and deflected their blows with a shield and sword. When they picked themselves up, he showed them a better stance, letting them take turns swinging at his rapidly deforming shield.

Smiley and Bleusnout walked into the room, followed by Arlothe, Old Healer, and the other Masters of the Hollow. Soon the cavern was full of the sounds of weapons slamming into armor, and the hum of conversation as the Masters of the Hollow, current and past, sorted out the hoard dropped from the ring. Ringtail and Tweedle stared in awe at the hoard of items and were silent for once. They pitched in to help by separating the coins into one pile and stacking them up.

Gilad shook his head in wonder. "This is the reward of a lifetime spent making war. Some of these things I recognize as rewards given to Gangrene, but much of this belonged to other Hollows. Over the decades, Hollows have been found abandoned. We always assumed it was monsters or invasions of spiders when we found the dark, deserted caverns. But now I have to wonder."

Arlothe spread out maps from a leather folder. "Let me end your wondering then. Look here! Detailed maps and battle plans for attacking Manchego Hollow, and another set for invading Scamorza Hollow."

Gilad took the maps, anger on his face. "We should have known. Master Benito Scamorza was always critical of Gangrene and a canny political opponent. He argued against any one general having too much power. His Hollow was found abandoned over thirty years ago." He bent down and picked up one of the ornate rings. "We have to look no further than here! This is the signet ring of the Scamorza family. We must search for the family's heir to return it to them. And these maps are damning evidence of what Gangrene and his Hollow have done. He may be dead, but we must warn the other Hollows. This information should be taken to Gouda Hollow; they act as a central archive for many things and would know best how to proceed."

Tallsqueak was looking over each of the rings with care. A dozen of them bore the crests of different families, but others resembled the simpler rings he and the other Masters wore. He saw different types of rings he wasn't familiar with: Master Miner and Master Merchant. He pointed these out, and Master Clawhammer picked up the mining ring. "It would be nice to have a Master Miner. I handle it now, but I was elected to handle the crafting in the Hollow. With the expansion of the mines, that is now a full-time job."

Bleusnout looked over the ring as well. "This could have come from any Hollow; we will never know from where. I don't see a problem with keeping it. Your assistant, Vilma, does very good work." He looked at the others. "Might I suggest you vote to add a Master Miner to our council?" There was some discussion, and the vote was approved.

Tallsqueak saw Brutus walk by, supporting two sleepy little girls. He was limping and bloodied but in good spirits. He gave the assembled council a thumbs up and continued to his home. Gilad picked up the Master Merchant's ring. "We've had little cause to need a Master Merchant, but with increased trade with the dwarves, and the possibility of players coming to the Hollow, it is something we should think on."

Smiley pointed around at the piles of tents, weapons, armor, and other goods. "There's enough stuff here to start a big trading post or a small caravan. Plus, all the carts and beasties to pull them."

Milo remembered something. "Brutus talked about wanting to follow the caravans."

Gilad nodded. "That boy has always had a bit of wanderlust in his soul. I remembered the season he wanted to train as a scout. Seeing him trying to sneak around the Hollow kept us all amused. We had to finally move him to guard training when he got so heavy he caved in a roof he was running across. Being a guard let him roam some of the nearby caverns and greet travelers. But you see an opportunity for something else?"

Milo used a claw to scratch diagrams in the stone of the floor, drawing the cavern layout and the house, with the area set aside for the Engineer compound on the other side of the cavern. Then he added a building next to the house. "The Hollow is going to see more traffic now. Players exploring the deeper caves, dwarves coming to mine, and maybe even caravans from other Hollows. What if we built a Trading Post next to the house? Players coming to the Hollow could do business outside the Hollow, and we could decide who could enter the main area. It gives more control and safety. The people we don't trust fully can still buy food and supplies from the Hollow and sell their goods."

He pointed to the piles of armor and weapons. "We can put some of these items in the trading post to sell and keep the rest to buy with contribution points. That way, everyone in the Hollow benefits. If we gain more players starting here, that gives them more things to earn, and they will contribute more."

Gilad liked the idea. "Caravans and players will be less of a threat when camping in the outer cave, and we can keep a better eye on them. Even add a guard room to the Trading Post. Brutus could oversee all of it."

The feeling of a threat nearby washed over Milo. A scowling Gendifur was standing nearby. "What are you volunteering my new husband for?" The conversation paused as everyone noticed her. She bent to look at the plan and considered it for a moment. Then she smiled at all the other councilors and sat down.

"Brutus would love it. He still has some of his old dreams. I can spare him occasionally if we send a caravan to another Hollow. If you are building a Trading Post on one side of my house, I want a new clinic on the other side. It will free up more room in the Hollow and let me have space to help more people at once. I hope we never have such a string of emergencies again, but I want to be ready."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Milo looked down at the pile of rings and pondered something for a few seconds, then came to a decision. "I have something I need to say. I'm not always going to be here. I need to travel to the Outpost and Shadowport, and there are mysteries below us that I want to explore. I love it here, but I can't stay still for long without something to do."

Gendifur snorted, and several of the council looked at each other. Arlothe flat-out laughed. "I think I speak for the majority of us. You getting bored leads to exciting times. Perhaps too exciting?"

Gilad agreed. "You would be a poor Master Scout if you were complacent."

Milo was happy that no one seemed upset. "I want to pick a successor. Is there a problem with that?"

No one disagreed. Bleusnout spoke, "It shows responsibility to do so. Who did you have in mind?"

Tallsqueak looked over at Tweedle and Ringtail, who were napping at the top of a large pile of coins. He picked up two of the extra Master Scout rings from the pile. He picked them up, skulked over to the two assistant scouts, and slipped the rings on their fingers before clapping his hands loudly.

They jumped up with wild eyes and looked down at their fingers.

"Oh no! What is this?"

"Responsibility, the most dreaded of things."

"It nags and nags and makes you brush your teeth."

"I feel my posture improving...no more slouching!"

They looked at each other, turned to Milo, and said simultaneously. "Time to grow up?"

Milo nodded and shook their hands. "Maybe a little."