Ranger TP - Assault On Brockhall

In the Main Hall of Brockhall, deep beneath Mossflower Forest...

Oak smirks at the flying pig and can't help but openly laugh. "a flyin' pig...sure when pigs fly....oh wait, nevermind"

Maria says, "yeah...we'll proboly be out then..."

Oak shrugs. "Don't be expectin' te' get out. If 'dey can catch me it's goin' to one 'ell of a time tryin' to get out. I'm not going to give up 'er anythin' i'm jus' sayin'"

Tie frowns for a moment as he hears the voice of Oak, but he decides Oak is just another slave he has of yet to meet.

Maria looks at Oak "hm...who are ye, might Ah ask?"

Oak is silent for a moment, but then figures he might as well talk since he has nothing else to do. "I'm Oak. I was captured tryin' to bring these idiots to justice. I usually work 'fer gold, but I 'ate slavers, so I did 'dis fer Free...didn't turn out well"

Tie sighs, not really caring if Oak was talking to him or not "So I noticed. If it turned out good than you probably would not be here."

Maria asks, "who asked ye tae dae tha?"

Oak glares at Tie. "I wasn't talkin' to you knuckle'ead. I don't appreciate bein' talked to 'dat way, the only one 'oo got away 'wid 'dat was Jake...because 'ee hung me off the abbey wall. bad memories" he shivers

Maria asks, "Oak?\"

Nash pads in from the other side of the room and flops down next to Tie, nodding a greeting to Maria and the other squirrel who he has not yet had a chance to meet. "Afternoon, all." He's in a fairly good mood, having been singing with the dibbuns for the last fifteen minutes. Not sure what the conversation is about, he rests his head against the wall and eyes the various beasts involved.

Tie grins at Oak and says cheekily "If you insist oh mighty one." He Hears Nash and his grin gets bigger "Nash!"

Oak just slaps his head. "'Ello Nash" he nods to Nash but otherwise makes no notice of his precense.

Maria says, "hello..."

"Everything's going well I guess?" Nash arches an eyebrow. He heard part of Oak and Tie's exchange as he made his way across the room. "Anything excitin' goin' on?"

Maria says, "nae...not realy..."

Oak shrugs. "I stole from 'de guards earlier. dumb guard...but that was about it"

Tie shakes his head and says with surprising cheerfulness "Nope. It’s pretty dull in this horrible place."

Nash tilts his head curiously at Oak's admission but doesn't comment on its probability. "Aye, that it is, Tie." There really isn't anything else to say so Nash falls silent. Short of singing or dancing, he doesn't know what else there is to do.

Maria says, "huh...well...how are ye doin' Nash?"

Oak turns to the otter. "Yes, how are you. But I wanderin' more If ye' know 'ow to get out of his 'orrible place. I haven't touched a peice 'o gold in a week"

Tie scoffs at Oak "Gold?! We hardly have any food and you want /gold/?!"

"An' if I /did/ know a way out o' here, why would I be sittin' here talkin' to yas?" Nash shakes his head and rolls his eyes. Gold. Smh. "I'm doin' alright, Maria. 'Ow's your leg healin' up?"

Maria says, "hm...it's fine"

Oak frowns a bit. "Now 'ye made feel bad" he takes a bite out of the minscule peice of bread he has. "What can I say...the twinkle' o gold put's a twinkle in me eye, It's not like I 'aven't been in this situation before"

Ferilla walks calmly in, the ermine has been around the slaves enough that none of them should really be surprised to see her. Except for maybe Oak, she's never been around when he's been awake, and her keen eyes look him over. It's worth noting that her right forearm is wrapped in a bandage, and she supports it with her left paw. Her sword, which usually hangs from the left side of her belt, has been switched to her right side, suggesting either she's ambidextrous, or forced to use her non-dominant paw in light of her injury. She leans back against the wall, watching the slaves talk amongst themselves.

Nash snorts laughingly. "Oh, and how many times have you been captured by slavers, mate?" He asks Oak. "This just normal routine for ya?"

Tie sighs muttering about Oak "Make you feel bad? Well I am sure /I/ don't care."

Oak shakes his head. "No, but I got captured by woodlanders once, and by Bloodclaw twice, I was once even captured by some pirates long story there....I sold 'dem a shipment of supplys that 'jus 'appened to....well not exist" he grins.

Nash is not liking this new squirrel's careless attitude about things. He watches him for a bit, examining him, and then turns away towards Ferilla. "Ferilla! Good afternoon to ya!" He grins and then looks surprised. "What 'appened to yore paw there, mate?" He nudges Tie. "She's done sommat to 'er arm. It's all bandaged up real good."

Tie frowns "oh? Does it look bad?" He asks Nash with a hint of concern creeping into his voice.

The ermine's response is not quite as cheery. "Not any of your business Nash." she says coldly. He's probably lucky she didn't just refer to him as streamdog or something like that, as pretty much all of the other slavers do. She's found an old, moth-eaten blanket, and it's draped over her shoulders.

Maria says, "huh..."

Oak glares at the ermine. "Eh shutyer mouth 'ye wretched vermin....'ye slavers anger me to no end. 'De only thing I'm willin' to do for no fee is bring slavers like you 'te justice!"

Nash shrugs and whispers to Tie. "I dunno. She's still grumpy though, so she mus' be alright." When Oak speaks Nash grinds his teeth and takes a deep breath, willing himself not to reach over and punch the ignorant squirrel. Instead of using force, he uses words. "Shuddup." He growls at Oak. "You ain't been 'ere long enough, no, you ain't been /conscious/ long enough to see what she's done fer us. If I was you, which I shore am glad I ain't, I'd keep my mouth shut. /Entiendes/?" In his quick anger, Nash switches back to his native tongue and doesn't care if Oak gets it or not.

Tie grins, nudging Nash as he whispers "You tell him."

Ferilla is in no mood to be talked back to by any squirrel, let alone a headstrong one that's at her mercy. She crosses the room to him, draws her sword with her left paw, and places the tip at Oak's throat. "Did ye have something to say? I apologize, I’m a bit hard of hearing." she growls at him. "Probably from having to listen to idiots like you all the time."

Oak shrugs. "What? Are you kidding? I didn't say anything" he retreats to the shadows again taking notes.

Nash gives Tie the play-by-play. "She's got 'er sword up to 'is throat now. He keeps runnin' off."

Maria says, "hm...nae need tae kill marm..."

Tie rubs his paws together and chuckles "Maybe she should let the sword 'slip'" He really doesn't want Oak dead, but until then he will joke about it.

Oak mutters something under his breath at all the rotten comments and his pencil breaks, he face palms. It would be dangerous to attempt to pick pocket anyone a second time, so he doesn't try it. "I'm sorry. I 'just get carryed away"

The sword stays in place, even when Oak makes an attempt to retreat. She kicks the notepad and broken pencil from his paws, "Y'know, you really can't be worth all that much. It probably won't hurt my pay if ya didn't make it to the end of the line." she says, her voice low.

"Now she's....threatening to kill him..." Nash keeps his voice low as he whispers to Tie. "She's pretty upset about this..."

Oak shrugs. "Would it be worth the gold I keep in me armor?" he asked, pointing in the direction of the area where his stuff was thrown when he arrived. "I keep a lot 'o gold in 'dere. I'm willing to part wid' it to live"

Tie says to Nash with a slight smile "Maybe she should follow through. I am not surprised. I would be upset too if someone called me a vermin."

Maria says, "hm...that may bae baecuz yer nae a vermin....."

The offer of gold does not seem to sway Ferilla any, but after a few more seconds she sheathes her sword and turns, muttering, "It' not even worth tha effort. I'll just make sure we sell ya to the most unpleasant beast we can find." with that threat delivered, she leans back up against the wall, going back to quietly nursing her injury.

"Eh, she's done." Nash shrugs and leans back up against the wall. Bored. Strange, the things you find entertaining when you're desperate.

Oak laughs, and turns to face the others, he whispers in the corner. "That won't work. I can escape real easy if I'm ever free 'o 'dis place. I jus' 'ave to wait"

Tie grins, "True point Maria." He sighs and mutters to Nash "Drat. She needed to follow through."

"If I were Ferilla, I'd go check out that armor." Nash laughs. "Mebbe it /is/ full o' gold."

Oak shrugs. "Full of Gold in retrospect. It has 97 peices in there, I keep the other 50 in the bottom 'o me boot" he laughs. "'Dey never look there"

Ferilla keeps a close eye on Oak, though his whispering is inedible to her. She seems like she's not very motivated to do anything else besides lean against this wall and watch the prisoners.

Nash isn't motivated to do anything else except lean against the wall and think of food, which he hasn't had in a long time.

Maria says, "huh...are ye..."

Oak shrugs and finishes off his peace of bread. He stares at Ferilla and paces back in forth, trying to improvise a way to get out, which he will not find

Tie sighs. He has about the same idea as Nash.

Oak looks at a peice of the pencil. "I could use this as a....nope!" he tosses it aside. "That wouldn't work"

Maria asks, "use it as wot?"

Oak facepalms. "A lockpick" he hisses. "What else?"

Ferilla glares at Oak angrily, "Sit down an' shut up." she says to him, not addressing the other slaves, just him. He might be wise to lay low.

Oak glares back. "What?...Am I not allowed to talk? You 'ave some nerve. Puttin' me in a cage and then silencin' me. I 'ave the right to speak if I want too"

Nash gleefully watches the going's on between Ferilla and Oak. "Eesh, I kinda wish 'e'd a been conscious a whole lot sooner. I wonder if 'e's always this funny."

Maria says, "hem...yeah..."

Tie looks slightly annoyed and he says to Nash "what’s happening? Are they moving around? Is she going to kill him?"

Oak snaps at his blind cellmate. "Nobodys going to kill me...I'm more durable then 'ya 'dink"

The ermine growls again, "You're a slave; you've got no damn rights. Now shut up before I gut you." she looks like she means it this time, her paw on her sword hilt.

Oak laughs. "Ya don't get it do 'ya? I'm not goin' to be slave much longer anyway. Either I get freed or 'ya kill me. Really Simple when 'ya 'dink about it now isn't it? Try an' gut me? Got 'ahead...see how 'yer boss likes a Gut Squirrel! GO AHEAD! GUT ME!....I DARE 'YE!!!!"

Nash holds a paw out for silence which will obviously go unnoticed by Tie. "She's gettin' mad at 'im. 'e won't shuddup." Things suddenly get very tense and Nash finds himself involuntarily holding his breath.

Tie shivers "I would hate to be him."

Maria says, "hm...yeah Ah wonder why hae's sae foolish..."

Meanwhile, outside…

The forest around the massive tree that houses Brockhall is still, completely still. Or at least, that is how things appear. After a long period of observation, a figure slowly rises from the bushes, a cloaked otter, armed with a longbow. He glances around, confirming the fact that there is no guard at the large door. Perhaps the slavers thought it would be too suspicious to any passerby, or maybe they've just neglected it. Either way, it suits to the otter's favor as he steps into the open, heading swiftly to the door, the afternoon light filtering through the holes in the high canopy of emerald green leaves.

Behind the otter and to his right, still hidden in the bushes, are two other otters, a male and a female. The male has a bow out and an arrow notched, the female has a dagger and a short sword, both are tense and antsy, watching the cloaked otter closely as he makes his way towards the door. There is no noise from either of them.

Near the group of three is the fourth party to this venture. Coriander is standing behind a tall tree not too far from Brockhall. She has her staff clutched in one paw as she peeks her head around the tree to watch the cloaked figure.

The hooded otter has his wits about him as he approaches the door, head swiveling from side to side. He stops before the great door, looking it up and down. Meant for the huge badger lords, and not being especially tall himself, it is several heads taller than he. He puts his head up to it, listening intently for a few seconds, before turning back towards the forest and makes a gesture with one paw. It beckons for the other three to come, as well as signaling the coast is clear. Then he turns back to the door and checks the arrow knocked on his bowstring.

As soon as they see the signal, Siobhan and Misael dart from their cover and quickly make their way over to Tristan at the doorway. Once there, Misael turns around to face the forest, bow ready, while Siobhan stays with Tristan at the door. "What now?" She whispers.

Coriander starts to dash her way from tree to bush until she is beside them. She sighs "we could try knocking..." Her joke may not be the best thing at the moment.

Tristan raises an eyebrow at Coriander, giving her a faint half-smile. "Now," he turns back to Siobhan, "We see who's home." he reaches out for the huge door's equally large handle, and pulls backwards, the door giving with little noise, a fact that pleases Tristan. "Watch my back," he says, as the door comes fully open, exposing the dark, musty interior of the old badger dwelling. It certainly looks abandoned.

Siobhan falls in line behind Tristan, weapons at the ready. Misael will wait for Coriander to enter and then he'll follow them in, taking up the rear.

Coriander starts in behind Siobhan. She holds her staff in front of her from side to side so the ends point to the walls.

This is about the time when Tristan wishes he had a better melee weapon than a broken-off knife. His longbow is not the easiest thing to use in here, but at least with badger-sized rooms It’s better. He leads down the stairway, already starting to get out of sight in the darkened corridor. "Stay close," he whispers to the other three.

"No problem." Siobhan says, fully intending to keep everyone in sight for as long as possible. As soon as they enter the dark hallway, Misael throws his bow back across his chest and pulls out his only short-range weapon, the dagger Siobhan loaned him specifically for this situation. It's actually Nash's and she's made it quite clear that he had better give it back as soon as possible.

Coriander keeps following Siobhan. She stiffens as Misael draws the blade and for a moment she seems to forget where she is, but she recovers herself, muttering something.

It seems the Annex is where the guards have been, as two beasts, a rat and a stoat, armed with two axes and a bow, respectively, boredly stand guard over the room. They seem not to be expecting any trouble, and don't seem very alert. Tristan is crouched in the shadowy doorway into the room from the entrance, his hooded cloak helping him blend with the black. He looks back over his shoulder to make sure the others are in place. He leans back and whispers to Siobhan, "Two guards up here." he hopes she’ll pass the news back.

"Two." Siobhan turns and says to Coriander who, she assumes, will pass it on to Misael. They've got this. No problem.

Coriander turns back to Misael "Two." She mutters in a low tone, hoping he can hear her without any Trouble.

Tristan hopes that the message has been passed back as he raises his bow, aiming for the archer. The sound of a bowstring being pulled back alerts the guards, but it's a few seconds too late, as the twang-thunk of the arrow being released and hitting its target is quickly heard. The black-feathered shaft pins the stoat's arm to the wall, and he lets out a cry of pain. The rat immediately runs for the doorway closest to him, the one that looks to lead to the main hall.

"You can have the next one, Coriander." Siobhan says as she races towards the pinned stoat. He throws up a paw to fend her off but she's ready for him and mercilessly slits his throat sending an unappetizing stream of blood running down the front of his shirt. And now her paws are bloody. She thoughtlessly wipes her paws off on her tunic and turns back to the remaining otters, waiting for them to catch up.

Coriander sighs, looking sad she will miss them this time, but she shrugs and takes Siobhan' words to heart. She glances at Misael.

Tristan rises from his crouch and goes over, inspecting Siobhan's grim handiwork. "Not bad." he says, quickly pulling his arrow from the stoat's arm, causing him to slide to the ground with a sickening sound. The rat has escaped though, and that's the priority, "C'mon, before he warns the other slavers." he hurries to the door, following the rat.

Siobhan grins at Misael who looks at her blandly. Then they're off, chasing after Tristan.

Coriander takes her time as she follows. She does not like to rush even if she /is/ on 'raid'

Back in the Main Hall…

Ferilla draws her sword and advances on the squirrel, getting ready to gut him, as she stated, when all of a sudden, a rat bursts in, coming from upstairs, "Intruders! We gots intruders!" he shrieks, causing Ferilla to look over at him. As other vermin come in from adjacent rooms, looking around curiously, Ferilla, still in mid swing, gives Oak an 'I'll kill you later' glare and slams the hard pommel of her sword into his forehead with as much strength as she can manage.

Oak falls over, still glaring at the ermine, not that it matters much longer, his head hits the ground as he's knocked out.

"No time for wonderin' right now, mates." Nash's voice is low. "This may be it. Tie, if there are woodlanders out there, we're gonna wan' t' 'elp 'em. Get ready to pass out those chair legs. But 'old on a bit, we don't want to do somethin' if it ain't anythin'. We'll just get everythin' taken away."

Tie starts to get excited "Do you think they are woodlanders? Do you think we could escape?" He tries to calm down.

A few seconds behind the rat, a hooded otter appears in the doorway, arrow already nocked and ready to fire. He looses it at one of the vermin who is entering the room, missing, but still keeping the enemy’s head down. Now the room is starting to fill with vermin, all armed and angry.

Siobhan and Misael rampage in after Tristan and immediately spread out along the wall, preferring to keep their backs covered. Realizing that it's possible, Misael trades his dagger for his bow and lets another arrow fly. It goes high but vermin duck regardless, as well as a few captives.

"I dunno mate. I canna tell what they are..." Nash instinctively ducks as the arrow passes harmlessly some distance away. "Whoever they are, we're going to need more adequate cover..." As soon as the arrow passes, Nash peers up into the crowding vermin and thinks he spots a familiar face. "Siobhan?" He shakes Tie's shoulder urgently. "It's my sister! Siobhan!"

Tie grins "Well don't shake me to death. Are you really sure its her?"

Maria says, "well, ah don't knae about ye but..."

Coriander makes her way in at the back of the group and she make good use of her staff as she thwacks out at a nearby vermin.

Ferilla takes the opportunity to fall back, hurrying past the captives, towards the room that's being used as Nikita's quarters. As she leaves, the three bravest (or dumbest) vermin approach the otters, weapons drawn. They consist of Jas the rat with his two flails, Snubs the ermine with his shield held up to protect him from arrows, and Poser the weasel archer, who is immediately knocked back as Coriander's staff connects with his chest. Jas spins his flails and charges at Tristan, who he recognizes, and Snubs advances on Siobhan and Misael.

Tristan fires an arrow at the charging rat, and it thunks into his shoulder, although it does little to slow his charge. He jumps aside as the spiked flails slam simultaneously into the wall behind him.

Siobhan is a bit cocky and allows Snubs to get scarily close before she starts moving. Misael, bow on the floor, dagger in paw, stays in the front while Siobhan rips around behind him hoping to slit his throat from behind. Misael keeps him entertained by energetically looking for a way around the shield.

"Yeh. That's Siob." Nash shakes her head as he watches her with Misael. "Alright, c'mon." He loosely grabs ahold of Tie's tunic in order to guide him through the crush of vermin and captives towards the back of the room where they've left the chair legs near some old volewives. The ancients are glad to pass over the chair legs and Nash presses four of them into Tie's paws. "Keep one fer y'self, mate, and pass these others out to the ones we talked about." They previously selected several capable individuals to wield the chair legs as clubs.

Maria fallows the two

Tie lets Nash lead him than grabs the four legs with a firm nods "Right." He starts to weave his way around, handing the chair legs out here and there to bigger, more muscular beasts. One is a hedgehog and the other a shrew and mole. He holds his own chair leg and gets ready.

Coriander eyes Poser and starts to size him up. After she has taken a few seconds to look at him she steps close enough and swipes her staff at His foot-paws, hoping to knock him down.

Maria picks up a chair leg of her own…

Poser tries to draw his dagger to deal with Coriander, but gets his footpaws knocked out from under him, dagger falling to the floor. He's not putting up a very good fight, but luckily for him a ferret starts to fire arrows at the otter, hoping to keep her off of his comrade. Snubs struggles to fend off attacks from the two otters, taking a long cut on his back from Siobhan, though he avoids getting his throat cut. Jas abandons one flail and goes at Tristan, swinging at Tristan madly. Through the melee, only one beast notices the slaves are taking up arms: Dragit, the rat archer, who has armed himself with a short sword. He slashes at Maria, who he is closest to.

Tristan dodges the wild flail swing, ducking under it and rolling for Jas's footpaws, trying to knock him down. His bow has to be abandoned for now.

Siobhan continues to heckle Snubs, having more fun bothering him than anything. But time is short and they've got other vermin to tend to. With newfound purpose, Misael feints right and Siobhan uses the ermine's momentary lack of attention to go for a deep stab into Snubs' side.

Maria gets cut in her left arm and swings the chair leg at him, aiming for his head.

With the chair legs being passed out, the rest of the captives account for the dibbun population and herd them into a safe corner, protected by an odd assortment of young adults who have had to grow up quickly in the last few weeks. Their friends finally safe, the armed captives begin to make their way through the crowd smashing at heads and shoulders. For his part, Nash attempts to make his way through the fighting to his sister where he is sure he'll be able to obtain a real weapon.

Tie starts to make lay about him with his chair leg, wondering if he is even hitting anyone and hoping that when he does hit that he is hitting the vermin.

Coriander yelps as an arrow take her in the shoulder and she backs away. She starts to try and jab at Poser while avoiding the arrows, hoping she will succeed in hitting him.

Ferilla re-emerges from Nikita's chamber, flanked by Arsent, who readies his bow and fires, aiming for Siobhan, but just as likely to hit Misael, Snubs, or even Tristan and Jas, who are wrestling nearby, in all the confusion. Behind them come Nikita herself, armed with a curved dagger, and a vixen, in the mystical garb of a seer. "Get dem slaves an' let's get outta here!" Nikita yells. Hearing this, Meat, the largest of the vermin, advances towards the captives huddling in one corner, knocking aside a valiant slave with an improvised club easily. He leans over to grab the captives and carry them off. Poser scrambles away while Coriander is distracted, and Snubs does his best to fend off more attacks, taking a wicked slash to his side that makes him double over in pain. Dragit blocks Maria's block, slashing back at her.

Tristan is on the floor tussling with Jas, who is trying to hit him with the handle of the flail. Tristan punches him twice in the jaw, but the rat still clings to him.

Siobhan takes Arsent's arrow in the back, just to the right of her left shoulder. She promptly falls over on top of Snubs as her body reacts to the force of the projectile. Misael has seen all of it and grabs his bow to return his own shot before rushing over to pick Siobhan up and drag her over to the wall. She's back on her feet in no time and instructs Misael to break off the shaft of the arrow as close to her fur as possible before they inject themselves back into the fighting.

Nash sees the arrow penetrate into Siobhan's shoulder. "Siobhan!!" He yells. The beasts in front of him are scrabbling at each other and Nash breaks them apart by smashing his club into the unfortunate vermin's head. He crumples and Nash steps over his prone form as he rushes to get to his sister.

Tie knows nothing of where he is in the room as he flails about him with the club and he succeeds in hitting a beast...but it's a slave.

Maria moves to one side

Seeing Poser is gone Coriander cures and looks over the crowded room to see if she can find him, but she can't seem to see him. Her shoulder is aching horrible, but she does not want nor think to break off the shaft. Using her left paw she grabs one of her daggers and approaches the nearest vermin.

Ferilla stops suddenly as Misael's arrow strikes Arsent in the chest, knocking him back and sending the arrow that was on his bowstring flying towards the ceiling. She crouches down beside him, holding a paw to his wound. His eyes are closed, and she looks over across the room, trying to find Misael, though she can't. She picks him up and follows after Nikita and the vixen, who are headed for another exit the vermin have found since they arrived. Meat trails after them, ignoring the fists and clubs of the slaves as they try to prevent him from carrying off the first load of slaves. Knocked unconscious by Nash's blow, Tanit is dragged away by Poser, who is doing his best to hide while yelling "Run! Run!" Dragit pushes past Maria and grabs hold of two slaves, pulling them towards the exit as well. The nearest vermin to Coriander now is Dobbs, who chuckles evilly as she approaches, his shield up and ready for her.

Maria goes to hit the rat with the chair leg she has again. Maria whacks down with all her strength...

After a bit more back and forth, Tristan finally throws Jas off of him and gets to his feet. Jas looks angrily at him, but sees that his comrades are fleeing. "I'll git ya later, riverdog." he snarls, and runs for the exit.

Siobhan stays behind Misael now as he strikes out at a small rat which seems hardly fair. It is at this point that Siobhan /finally/ catches sight of Nash. "NASH!" She yells over the hubbub and abandons Misael in order to make her way towards her brother. It's a bit easier now considering how the slavers are fleeing in a mass exodus and the slaves are trying to protect their own. She's a bit dizzy from the pain and adrenaline but she makes it over to him fine.

Nash rushes towards Siobhan and catches her up in a tight hug, careful of the arrow she's taken in her shoulder. "Where've you /been/?" He asks in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner. "I've been waiting /ages/ for you to get here."

Tie sighs. His arms is getting tired and he is about ready to drop his club, But he forces himself to press on even if he is hitting slaves and slavers alike.

Coriander eyes Dobbs and notices his laugh with some annoyance. She holds the dagger in one paw and the staff in the other as she attempts to circle around him, jabbing with her staff every now and then, but the blows are pretty useless as the paw that is holding the staff is affected by the arrow and Dobbs has a shield.

Most of the slavers are on the run now, but unfortunately for the victors, they have also managed to grab a fair number of the slaves in the process, including Oak. Now Meat comes back into the room, his eyes locking on the embracing otters in the middle of the room. He lumbers towards them, grabbing at Nash roughly, "Heh heh, yew come wit' us." he rumbles. Dragit and Ronit, a rat with a two-pawed sword for a weapon, approach Tie, chuckling to themselves. Dragit swings his sword to block Tie's club stroke, and Ronit tries to grab the unsuspecting squirrel. Dobbs swings his sword at Coriander, the staff doing little to slow him down.

Tristan retrieves his bow and fires a few arrows at the retreating vermin, catching one in the back, though it's a non-lethal wound.

Siobhan yells as Nash is jerked away from her and dives at Meat to grab hold of his arm and hold him back. She's getting weaker from the loss of blood and scrabbles to hold onto the big vermin. "No! Nash!" Misael rushes over to help, bow drawn but throws it away when he realizes that it's useless due to Nash and Siobhan's proximity to Meat. Instead, dagger in paw, he tackles the rat in a last-ditch attempt to release his friend from the vermin's grasp.

Nash struggles as hard as he can but Meat has his arms pinned against his sides. Concerned that the rat is going to hurt Siobhan in order to get rid of her, he cautions her to let go. "Siob! It's okay! Let go! Let go!!" Then he is cut off as Misael dives at Meat.

Tie yelps as he is grabbed and his club is blocked. He tries to kick out behind him, not really knowing where anyone is and just hoping that by chance he will hit someone.

Dodging Dobbs' fast moving blade at the present moment is pretty impossible, but Coriander does try to get out of its way by jumping back which does not work so well and the blade slices deeply into her arm. She yelps yet again and starts to sway for a moment, but there is still light in her eyes and she tries to bring her staff up and then down on Dobbs head with her weakening arm.

Using one paw to hold onto Nash, Meat swats at Misael, who is cutting him pretty badly. With a roar he pulls away from the group, taking Nash with him, and after kicking out at Misael one last time, he runs for the exit as well.

Tie's kick misses because frankly they're not behind him. Ronit grabs his by the arm and takes the improvised club from his grip, now trying to pull him along away from the battle. Dobbs is unable to block Coriander's attack, the staff cracking down on his head. With a cry of pain he turns and flees.

Tristan sees that the fight is almost over, and starts to follow the retreating vermin, but then turns to look over his own team, realizing they're not in any shape to chase them down now. So he settles for shooting two arrows at Dragit. The first misses, but the second hits in his right bicep, causing him to yelp loudly and turn to face the otter.

Siobhan slowly crumples to the floor as Meat runs off with Nash in paw. She's crying, both from pain and from having her brother back and losing him again so quickly. Misael skids to a stop and quickly regains his paws, grabbing his bow as he does, and rushes over to join Tristan firing at the fleeing vermin.

Nash is dragged along, still struggling but realizing more and more that it's pointless.

Tie squirms and wiggles and even trying to bite now and then, but it’s no use really.

Coriander allows herself a grin as he blow hits home and she seems like she is going to chase after Dobb if it wasn't for the sudden nausea that forced her to sit down. She glances over at the other beasts as if for the first time.

The biting and kicking are really more annoying than anything else as Ronit and Dragit carry Tie with them while they retreat. All of the slavers are now out of sight down the corridor.

Tristan sighs as he sees the last of them go. "Everyone alright?" he calls to the others. The room is completely wrecked. Only Maria and a few other slaves escaped recapture, and they all sit around, some dejected, others jubilant. The only slavers in sight are the bodies or Yeris, who was killed in the melee, possibly by one of the slaves, and Snubs, who collapsed and succumbed to his wounds just a few feet away from the safety of the exit.

Siobhan has recovered herself sufficiently to stand up and try to straighten herself out. Misael slings his bow over his head and allows it to settle onto his shoulders as he pads back over to his friend and wraps her up in a hug that is entirely uncharacteristic of him. Siobhan sobs audibly and buries her face in Misael's shoulder where she proceeds to cry silently, a slight shudder being the only evidence of it. Misael stands there stoically, allowing her to get blood and tears all over him.

Tie would rather be annoying than doing nothing at all and he continues his actions, but they are getting weaker and weaker at each passing moment and soon he too is gone with the slavers.

Coriander sits on the floor, still feeling ill as she watches Siobhan cry. She looks away quickly as she starts to feel pity for Siobhan and she nods at Tristan "I am fine."

Tristan pulls his hood down onto his shoulders and sighs, leaning on his longbow, cursing under his breath. He walks over towards Siobhan, but says nothing, knowing that it wouldn't help matters any.

Siobhan feels everyone looking at her and wills herself to stop crying. Pulling back from Misael's shoulder, she wipes her eyes off with the back of her paw and takes a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm okay." She says softly and more or less honestly. Misael releases her and makes sure she can stand upright without assistance. They have a brief conversation where Misael asks about her shoulder and Siobhan mentions that it hurts but can wait for a bit. "Let's get outta here. I hate this place." She says, looking around solemnly.

At the words bidding them depart Corianders uses her staff to get up and walk over to the small group "I'm in agreement with Siobhan. Let's go"

Tristan glances around once more, and looks at Misael, the least wounded of the other three, "Can you get them and the captives out? I want to look around just a little longer." he gestures to the few ex-slaves around the room.

Misael nods to confirm that he heard Tristan and proceeds to gently direct Siobhan towards the annex which will take her outside, hoping that Coriander will follow her. Then he carefully pads back to the small crowd of frightened ex-captives and, with a gentleness that seems surprising for him, picks up the smallest hedgehog dibbun and sets him on his shoulder. "Would you all please come with me?" He asks the crowd of relieved woodlanders and they follow him as he leads them outside, the little hedgehog waving his paws in the air as they go.

Coriander does indeed follow. Once out in the annex she would have said something to Siobhan that she deemed helpful, but she does not trust herself with words so she just keeps her mouth shut.

Siobhan had completely exited Brockhall but suddenly comes flying back in, all a panic. "His lute! Nash didn't have his lute!" With speed born of desperation, she flies around the back rooms, eventually ending up in the slaver's quarters where she emerges three minutes later, carefully toting an old, wooden instrument. "I'm amazed it's still in one piece." She comments, relief painting her voice. Happy again, she goes back outside to join Coriander.

Tristan remains behind only a little longer to search the rooms around the hall for anything useful, as well as searching the bodies for anything of interest. Finding nothing, he gazes once more down the dark hallway the slavers used for their escape, and sighs, leaving Brockhall to catch up with the others.