A few days ago, on the outskirts of the town of Hamlin lies a place where several beasts and monsters dwell. They are tended to by a pair of Alraunes. The eldest, a motherly woman tends to several of these wild beasts. The chartreuse green petals on her waist resemble a long skirt of a dress. Her top is of a complementary hue to both her natural skirt and her verdant skin tone.
“Hmm,” the woman says as she looks over the animals and monsters. She sees a stray mimic looking around for valuables to consume. An Orthus barks at the chest with their two heads.
“Oh my!” the woman says. She runs towards the canid beast. “No! Bad dog,” she scolds the Orthus whose heads whimper in response. She then turns towards the move the mimic. “Charlotte!” she says, “Can you help me move the mimic again?”
“Okay, Mom,” a smaller Alraune enters the room, her skin is the same color as her mother’s flowers, but her own, and her tresses, are dyed in shades of violet and indigo. The daughter helps her mother pacify the mimic with pollen from her flowers before they push the mobile chest away from the Orthus.
After moving the monster back to its room, they make sure it is fed with some jewels.
The family are tamers, who had put down roots near Hamlin to assist with stray monsters, tending to them before they could be released back into the dungeons they came from.
“Thank you, sweetie,” the mother says to Charlotte. She soon heads to the kitchen to make some tea for herself.
A while later, the Alraune mother finishes preparing tea. As she drinks the beverage, she thinks about the town. She always notices a strange feeling whenever she visits it.
The next day, Charlotte heads to school. The village only has one school, enough for all of the town’s young children, numbering over one hundred and thirty. As she walks to the town and the school, she notices something. The villagers do not greet her like they do the other kids, they go about their day ignoring her whenever she walks alone. Only the teachers and her fellow schoolmates seem to acknowledge her.
At school, the young Alraune girl talks with some of her classmates, but these discussions are always cut short by the school’s bell and there is a sense of distance between her and the other children. At recess, she usually sits on a swing, alone. She gazes at the number of kids playing together and those that avoid her. “Why can’t I make any friends?” she asks herself before sighing.
Meanwhile, the mother is visiting her sister at the local shelter. She finds her sister, another Alraune, but with blond hair and only a tinge of green on her complexion. A stark contrast to her own green skin. The store employee wears a tag reading “Geraldine Truce.” Her top is worn over her rose-red and green skirt.
“Thanks for coming by, Carla,” Geraldine says to her sister.
“My pleasure Geraldine,” Carla Truce says. “How’s the town treating you?”
“Oh, they get along with me splendidly!” Geraldine says with a vibrant expression.
“That’s good to hear,” Carla says. “Did anyone give you any trouble?”
The shelter is immaculate, with not a single speck of dust or hair anywhere on the floors or walls. The building is illuminated by candlelight and sunlight as the two tend to the various numbers of stray animals. Cats, dogs, and even some monsters that were too far from the dungeon they came from.
“Not that I recall,” Geraldine says as she tends to a living Raflessia monster. The stench of their very distant kin is neutralized by a potpourri of essential oils. “Why do you ask?”
“It’s nothing,” Carla says. “I’m glad to hear Hamlin’s treating you kindly.”
Geraldine notices her sister’s forlorn expression. “I understand there have been some concerns at school lately?”
Meanwhile, at the school, the bell rings, and Charlotte gets off her solitary swing. As she walked back to her classroom, she tripped and fell onto the ground.
“Owie!” she cries out. She looks up and sees a trio of boys towering over her. The leader, a lad named Charles Cortez, smirks with an outstretched leg right behind Charlotte’s heel. Charlotte realizes that he is the one that tripped her.
“I’m telling the teachers!” Charlotte says to Charles as she stands up.
“Heh,” the bully says. “They don’t care, you know that right?”.
At his side is Felix Nicolle, the right-hand boy to Charles. “Still can’t make any friends?” Felix teases.
The third lad is Anthony Richmond, a hanger-on to Charles’ gang of delinquents and bullies. “Maybe you’d have better luck at the forest!” he quips.
“Knock it off!” Charlotte says, her eyes quivering with tears as she turns.
“Face it,” Charles says. “This town has no place for monsters like you.”
A duo of girls arrive at the scene. Euryale and Stheno Arion. Their older brother was recently inducted into Rosenkreuz. The sisters see the trio of boys bullying Charlotte. “Do you guys get your kicks from bullying her?” Euryale says.
“Heh,” I’m just telling it like it is,” Charles says. The other two lads nod in agreement.
“That’s not true!” Charlotte says. “I know Hamlin accepts me!”
Charles turns to to the little Alraune “Please,” he scoffs. “You’re only tolerated here.”
Tears stream down Charlotte’s face as she lets herself be riled up by Charles’s insults. “How would you know?!”
Charles gazes at the Alraune with an intense expression. “Have you noticed that none of the adults in town are batting an eye at you right? Surely you’re not that blind? The baker? The weaver, the kindly Ms. Guarjardo ignores your presence. Face it monster, you’ve no real place here. You are only allowed to live here because your father happened to be Samuel.”
“T-That’s not true!” Charlotte says before running off, crying.
“Charlotte!” Euryale says. She turns to Charles. “Thanks a lot, you jerks!” before she and Stheno rush to comfort her.
The boys simply head to class without a shred of remorse.
A while later the sisters see the Alraune child sobbing in front of the school’s tree. Confiding in the plant about her experiences. The Arions comfort her.
“Man, these guys are real pieces of work!” Euryale says. Her voice carries a slightly tomboyish exuberance.
“Quite,” Stheno says. Her voice carried a slightly regal tone. “It is hard to believe why they haven’t gotten in trouble for this.”
Euryale hands Charlotte a handkerchief. “What’s your name?” she says.
The young Alraune takes the cloth and wipes her tears and mucus from her face. “Charlotte,” she says with a sniffle.
“Euryale,” the other girl says. “She’s Stheno,” as she gestures to her twin sister.
“Do you want us to take you to the principal?” Stheno says.
“Uh-huh?” Charlotte says. The three girls soon head off to report the bullies.
At the shelter, Carla tells Geraldine about an incident where some bullies had pushed Charlotte into the mud while calling her a monster.
“Goodness!” Geraldine says. “How terrible.”
“I know,” Carla says. “They’ve been apparently given a time out, yet that was the latest in a line of such incidents. If it is not them, it is a different group of students getting her in trouble with the teachers, if not that, it is kids outright burying her in the dirt.” She sighs.
Geraldine was aware of some of these incidents. She is aware of a sense of alienation her sister and niece had felt for the past several months.
Carla sighs as they finish up the duties at the shelter. She gazes wistfully at a portrait of their family hanging at the shelter. The image shows an artist’s impression of Carla, Charlotte, and an indigo-haired man.
“The town was always fond of Sam,” Carla says nostalgically.
Geraldine sees Carla mourning again. “He did always know how to liven up the mood. Helped bring some coin to Hamlin as well.”
The Alraune sisters talk about the late Samuel Truce, and how he was among the foremost skilled adventurers in the village. “I don’t think the town has quite gotten over his demise,” Carla says with a sigh.
“They say time heals all wounds,” Geraldine says.
“This is a wound that cuts deep,” Carla says. She reminisces of simpler times, when Samuel was alive, and when the town felt more welcoming of her. She recalls the celebration that took place when Charlotte was born, and how the neighbors always helped her with her tasks. Now to her, it feels like those days are long gone.
“I heard a poem was used in Noir,” Carla says. “The poem ends with a verse that says the moon, ever distant, is more familiar to the writer than the city. Geraldine, do you know when Hamlin has changed?”
“I sadly do not,” Geraldine says.
A man soon walks int he shelter, the door ringing a little bell to the side. “Excuse me?” the stranger says. “Is Carla Truce here?”
“Why yes,” she says. “Is something the matter?”
Over at the schoolyard. Charlotte, Euryale and Stheno talk with the principal about the recent incident. The principal has also called Charles, Felix and Anthony over.
“So,” the principal says. Her tone is stern with a hint of tiredness. She turns to the boys. “I heard you caused Charlotte a great deal of grief?”
Charles defiantly humphs. “Monster’ll cry over any old thing!”
“That’s not true!” Charlotte says.
“Charlotte is not a monster,” the principal says.
“She’s certainly not a villager either,” Charles says. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d be ignoring her like all the rest”
Euryale walks over to Charles, “Listen here you little—“ the principal cuts her off. “Language, Euryale.”
Carla soon arrives having been alerted of the incident, with Gerladine in tow
“Mom?” Charlotte says with a touch of embarrassment.
“Missus Truce,” The principal says. “I must apologize again.”
“No it’s alright,” Carla says. She turns to her daughter, “Now tell me what happened.”
The three girls tell Carla about the trip and the encounter with the bullies.
“Charles,” the principal says sternly to the lads. “What do you have to say for yourselves.”
The three boys give a sarcastic and insincere apology to Charlotte. The principal’s ire is well hidden behind her calm expression.
“I’ll will let their parents know about this,” the principal says with a sigh of disappointment. She is one of the few people who is aware of Charlotte’s troubles at the school besides Carla herself.
“You can’t be—“ Charles says.
“I can and I will!” the principal says. “You’re all dismissed.”
The rest of the day goes by without further incident. Charlotte bonds with the Arion sisters over the day as the school ends.
✦✦✦
After succeeding in passing through Revotos’ Valley. Emily’s party arrives in the village of Hamlin. Emily holds the tablet in her hand. The enigmatic message telling of the piper leaves her wondering about who the piper is.
Elizabeth also looks at the tablet with keen interest. “Why is it a warning?” the fairy asks.
Sarah looks at the villagers looking at the unusual pair with a mix of intrigue and apprehension. The strange outfits mark the travelers as adventurers. But the presence of a dwarf and an Arachne child leaves them to wonder where they came from.
The murmurs of the townsfolk echo across the isolated village as Emily and her friends look around the village.
“Seems like we’re the talk of the town, cher,” Heathcliff says.
A man soon approaches them. “Welcome to our humble village,” the man says with an apprehensive but warm smile. “To what pleasure do we owe your presence.”
“We’re here because we heard there was a Tamer in the area,” Heathcliff says. “You don’t supposed you can lead us to him, kind monsuier?”
“A Tamer?” the man says. “I don’t know what that is, but if I can hazard a guess, I think there might be someone here who fits the bill, follow me.”
The man leads them towards a small shelter.
✦✦✦
At the same time. Stanley Piers talks to the mayor. “From Noir I had came, on word of your plight. Let me cleanse the town of the rats tonight.”
“And how much would it cost, kind sir?” the mayor says.
“I understand your frugal desires,” the bard says. “You wish to save for a road that links here to Noir.”
“That’s right,” the mayor says.
“Your humble town, isolated from all,” Stanley says. “Rest assured I will not bring forth your fall. My price is simple, a few dozen gold. A fair price to pay, with plenty to save.”
“Hmm,” the mayor says. He looks over at the coffers and sees several gold coins. Certainly, the piper’s price is not so steep in comparison. He had personally made sure to cover the cost, and besides, the rats were a threat to Hamlin’s future. “Very well, Mr Piers, you have a deal.”
“I’m glad we had reached an agreement, sir,” the piper plays a small tune. “Forsooth, the vermin will be gone posthaste.”
The mayor puts the coins in a small sack, making sure it is separate from the money put aside for the Backbreaker Project. He then hands Stanley a map of the village, marking down places with a large concentrations of rats. The piper leaves the room, satisfied.
“You’re getting a raw deal, you know?” The piper hears a voice as he leaves the town hall. A thought? “The town does not take well to outsiders. They will lie and cheat, and damn you to squalor.”
“That is not true, for we made a deal.” the bard thinks. “I’d think the mayor’d more honor than Noir.”
The cacodemonic voice lingers. “They are all the same, swindlers, thieves, vor. They care not for the Exsecratii here.”
The intrusive thoughts plant a small seed of doubt, but it matters now to Stanley. “I have a job to do, that is certain. The rats shall be expunged, no matter what.”
“Very well, piper, but I had warned you,” the voice says. “When the knife stabs you, I’ll be waiting.”
Stanley heeds, not the seeds of doubt in his head and soon heads to the first location marked on the map.
✦✦✦
In the shelter, Geraldine has invited her relatives over, as well as the Arion sisters. They find the trio of girls looking at the various critters and domesticated monsters with awe.
“They’re so cool!” Euryale says. She looks at a small ashwood sapling. Charlotte giggles.
“Pardon me,” Stheno says to Geraldine, holding a small rodent in her palms. “Are you sure this chinchilla is not among the rodent issue?”
“I’m certain,” Geraldine says. “The rats here have much darker fur.”
“Where does this little guy come from?” Euryale says.
“Hmm,” Charlotte says. She turns to her mother. “Can you remind me, Mom? I think I forgot.”
“With pleasure sweetie,” Carla says. She is happy to see that Charlotte has made friends for the first time since school. “The chinchilla wandered here from a snowy tundra. I think it came from a frozen wasteland dungeon that recently sprung up to the west of Rosenkreuz.”
“It seemed very hardy for such a little guy,” Geraldine says.
The bell rings on the shelter’s front door and a small band of travelers come in. One of them was distinguished by her purple metallic armored dress. “Hello?” she says.
“Welcome,” Geraldine says. The pale-skinned Alraune looks at the group and notices the spiderling and dwarf among them. “You’re not from around here, what brings you to our humble village?”
“We’re looking for a specialist for me—my home. It has been suffering from an animal problem lately.”
“An animal problem you say?” Carla says. “And where do you live young lady?”
Emily introduces herself and gives the location of the dungeon near the town of Rosenkreuz.
“Goodness! That is far off!” Carla says.
Nina looks at the various critters at the shelter, as well as the Alraune child and her two new friends. She introduces herself to the older children. “Hi, I’m Nina! Adventurer in training!”
“Putting the cart before the horse there, cher,” Heathcliff says. “But I supposed introductions are in order.” He turns to the adult Alraunes. “Bonjour mademoiselles. My name is Heathcliff. My patron is Emily, this here’s Tim, that’s Sarah and that’s Elizabeth.”
“My name’ is Carla,” the green woman says. “Carla Truce. My sister is called Geraldine.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“I’m Charlotte,” Carla’s daughter says with a shy look on her face.
“You may address me as Stheno,” Stheno says, “My sister is called.”
“Let me introduce myself, Stheno!” Euryale says. “Ahem, my name is Euryale, a pleasure to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you too!” Emily says.
While pleasantries were had, everyone heard a sound echoing through the village. The chinchilla enters a trance and scurries off Stheno’s hands in a daze. Leaving the shelter entirely. Everyone heads outside to find a parade of various rats marching in the same mesmerized state, concentrating around a man wearing a pied outfit.
For some reason, Charlotte, Nina, and Emily would sense a strange feeling from the man as he cheerfully plays his song. The three could sense a strong malevolence from the man, but could not place their finger on it. The pied piper sees a large swarm of rats at his feet and continues his performance, leading the rats toward the edge of the village.
“Hmm,” Heathcliff says. “Methinks we got the wrong people.”
“Care to elaborate?” Geraldine asks.
“We came here on word that a tamer from Noir had come to this village,” Tim says.
“I see,” Carla says.
“Still,” Emily says as she gazes upon the tablet. “Something feels off about it.”
“It’s not just me?” Nina says.
“I can feel it too,” Charlotte says.
“Hmm,” Heathcliff says. “Carla, was it? It looks like we’ll be lingering around town a bit. Do you think you can hook us up with a place to stay, cher?”
Carla understands the knight’s words. “Of course. We have plenty of spare room at our house.”
“Maybe we can come over as well?” Euryale says.
“We can ask mommy dearest about a sleepover first, of course,” Stheno says.
“Of course,” Carla says. “We hadn’t had any visitors since—“ she stops herself. Geraldine turns to her sister’s family portrait.
The group decides to split up. Elizabeth and Tim decide to look into the other bard while the others set off for Carla’s house and the Arions head to home to ask their parents for permission to sleep over at the Alraune’s abode.
✦✦✦
Elizabeth and Tim take a small tour around the village. There they see the piper working his Bardsong towards routing the rodents. A crowd had gathered on the town streets in the effulgent daylight.
Tim looks at the man with some suspicion. “Hey,” he says. “Do you think dungeons can sense evil?”
“They can sense malicious intent,” Elizabeth says. “But this piper seems to lack any.”
The piper finishes his performance and notices the martial artist and fairy among the spectators. “Salutations, fellow travelers I see,” the man says with a large smile as he approaches him. “Are you here about the rat problem too?”
“You can say that,” Tim says.
“Ah splendid, but alas, I had removed most,” the man says. “Though some rodents still linger in places.”
“We are here,” Elizabeth says. “Because we heard that a tamer from Noir had come here for pest control. Are you the tamer in question?”
“You are quite correct, my fairy lady. Stanley Piers has come to Hamlin from Noir.” The bard plays a small impassioned melody on his pipe.
Tim is already annoyed by the bard, recalling his encounter with the Jonguler and his the other day.
“Our dungeon has need of a tamer,” Elizabeth says, to Tim’s silent chagrin. “Do you think you can assist us?”
“That depends, my dear, my Bardsong’s quite niche,” Stanley says. “It can only work on rodents, you see? Rats and mice and chinchillas that hear. Ah, that reminds me, I must inquire. Perhaps this critter is your desire?” he plays a small tune and the chinchilla from the shelter exits his pocket, free from its trance, and climbs onto Elizabeth.
Elizabeth laughs as the little rodent scurries across her body. “That tickles!”
“A critter as exotic as we are,” Stanley says. “And well groomed and taken care of, I see. I’m certain it numbers not of the rats. Perchance it came from the shelter yonder?”
“Yeah,” Tim says as he takes the critter off Elizabeth. “We’ll take it back there right now.”
“I appreciate it if you did, fellows,” Stanley says. “Fare thee well, perhaps we shall meet again.” Stanley leaves towards one of the remaining places.
The duo are left bewildered. The bard so far seemed kind and gentlemanly, bereft of any malefic intent. Yet Elizabeth could feel a strange aura around him. The two head back to the shelter.
On the way, Elizabeth is curious about something. “So How did you learn Far Eastern arts?” the fairy asks.
“My mom had a friend from Jiang-hu. She was born there. Her friend taught me everything I knew. Both with wind magic and bajiquan.” He sighs as he recalls his near loss to Chiron and his struggle with the Jongular’s motley band. “I was certain it would be enough, it has to be.”
Elizabeth senses a forlorn expression in him. “Bemoaning wounded price I’m guessing?”
“No,” Tim says. “That friend, my mentor before Heathcliff, passed away. He said that mastering my Qiang would help me finish my training.”
“Does Emily know this?” Elizabeth says.
“Unfortunately,” Tim says. “My fault for forgetting she can eavesdrop on everything in her body.” He turns to the fairy. “Maybe I should branch out a bit. I can use more than just Wind now that you and Emily have more cores right?”
“That is correct,” Elizabeth says. “Anything in particular you want to learn?”
“We’ll discuss it later,” Tim says as they approach the shelter. “We’re here.”
“Oh, right,” Elizabeth says, realizing that she forgot about the chinchilla matter.
The two opened the door to the shelter and Geraldine greets them at the toll of the small bell to the side. “Welcome back!” The rosy Alraune says.
“We talked to the piper,” Elizabeth says. “He wanted us to return this,” the chinchilla leaps out of Tim’s pocket and into Geraldine’s arms.
The Alraune caretaker looks at the chinchilla and notices its sadness. “Hmm,” She examines the chinchilla’s features. “I think it might have found a special partner, could you do me a favor and help it find them again.”
“Of course!” Elizabeth says. Tim sighs. The rodent jumps back into Tim’s pocket as the two head off to regroup with the others.
✦✦✦
Euryale and Stheno arrive at their home. A somewhat above-average home in the village, seated atop a verdant hill. The architecture is unusual, blending a modern style with peculiar designs. The twins arrive at the front door, the doorway only slightly taller than they are.
“We need to tell Dad that the doorway is too small,” Stheno says.
They open the doorway. “We’re home!” Euryale says.
“Oh, “a voice calls from the kitchen. “Welcome home, girls.” A tall woman exists in the kitchen, her verdant hair reaches her nape as she greets her daughters. “What have you been up to lately?”
“Is Orpheus home, perchance?” Stheno says.
“You just missed him, girls,” the mother says. Her hair coiled in a serpentine fashion uninherted by her children. “He had just left for Noir.”
“Oh,” Euryale says with a dejected expression. Ever since the Ebony Guards had scouted Orpheus Arion, he barely had the opportunity to visit Hamlin, and the few visits he does make are as thin as they are far between.
“I can’t believe someone from Noir hired him after Rosenkreuz rejected him,” Euryale says.
“Your father is outside, dears,” the mother says. “Douglas! The girls are home!”
The girls head to the kitchen, seeing their father outside, behind the backyard door. In stark contrast to the front door, the backyard door towers over the family. For that reason, it is the parents and Orpheus’ primary means of entry into their abode.
The father sees the daughters and greets them with a warm smile, his brown beard and short hair projects the image of a hardworking family man, the brown hair being a constant among the three children of Douglas and his wife. “Girls!” he says.
“How has your day been, Daddy?” Euryale says.
“It went well,” Douglas says. “Now that the rats are gone, I can finally get to work on repairs!”
Douglas is one of the few villagers with an eye for construction, it was he who built the house. From the slightly askew windows to a chimney that zigs and zags as rainbow smoke leaves its stacks. He was the one who designed the house with a sense of aesthetical whimsy. “Heard you two made a new friend recently.
“Yeah!” the twins said. “Charlotte,” the two were reminded of the reason they went home to begin with. Stheno says, “We were wondering if you would let us come over to her house for the night.”
“Isn’t she one of the Alraunes?” the mother says with a concerned expression. “The daughter of the woman that helps with the monsters.”
“Yes,” Euryale says. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Well, um,” the mom says. “It’s just that that place might be dangerous. What with all the dangerous critters abound.”
Douglas looks at her wife with an unsurprised but understanding expression. “Medusa, honey. Are you implying that you don’t trust the Truces to take care of our girls? After all that Samuel has done for us?”
“Of course not, Douglas!” Medusa says. “We owe a lot to Samuel, Adminstrators bless his soul. But are we sure his wife can handle these two, especially on top of the other heard I heard she is housing, and with the wee beasties still there?”
Douglas has been around these parts, he knows to keep an open mind, after all, he used to be an adventurer himself back in the day and has explored many strange places. And he was quite close to Samuel as well. He knows the rumors surrounding the Alraunes are unfounded.
After a few moments of silence, Medusa turns to her daughters. “Alright girls, you can go, but…” she says before laying out a list of conditions including not disturbing the fauna or the other guests while staying at Carla’s.
“Got it,” the twins say. “Thanks, Mommy!” the two prepare to pack some things for the sleepover.
Medusa turns to Douglas. “I’m sorry dear,” she says. “Maybe I let the rumors get to me after all.”
“I understand,” the husband says. “I know Hamlin is not yet used to demi-humans, but you got to have more faith in Samuel. I know he would never marry people with ill intent or risk Hamlin’s safety.”
“I know,” Medusa sighs. She looks at the playful girls as they speculate on the fun things they’ll be able to do with Charlotte. “If nothing else, I wish them good luck with their new friend.”
A while later, Douglas takes the girls to Carla’s home.
✦✦✦
On the outskirts of Hamlin, on a path that leads to both a lush forest and ends at the foot of the majestic Brokeback Mountains, lies a large home. Its windows are misshaped with an unchiral design, its roof is sloped in a way that makes it look like it dances beneath the heavens. Its warm tones and quirky aspects stand out in the green of the nearby forests. It’s as if it stands on a liminal border betwixt the fantastical and the mundane, much like how the villager sees its residents as on the border between the alien and familiar.
Tim and Elizabeth arrive at the house, with Emily, Sarah, Heathcliff, and Nina already situating themselves in the Alraune’s guest rooms. Shortly after, the Arion family walks over, having secured permission from their parents.
Inside Carla’s house, Heathcliff looks at several rooms, each having some manner of beast or monster contained and well cared for. “Well,” Heathcliff thinks, “looks like we have our tamer!”
Carla answered the door and found that the rest of the guests had arrived. As well as Douglas Arion, the man who constructed this house.
“Hello Douglas,” Carla says as the girls storm into the room.
“Pleasure’s all mine!” Douglas says.” Heard our kids became fast friends!”
“It sure seems that way,” Carla says. “How’s Orpheus?”
“Got some business over at Noir,” Douglas says. The two chat a bit about how things have gone since Samuel’s demise. Indeed the two forged a fast friendship when Samuel introduced her to him. A friendship that resulted in Douglas organizing the party celebrating Charlotte’s birth and Carla being made the maid of honor for his wedding with Medusa.
Meanwhile, Douglas’ daughters find Charlotte playing with Nina and Emily. Charlotte’s face beams a big smile as she sees her two schoolmates here.
“Euryale, Stheno, you’re here!” Charlotte says.
Meanwhile, Tim and Elizabeth talk with Emily and Heathcliff about the encounter with Stanley Piers. The chinchilla in Tim’s pocket senses the presence of the Arions and leaps out of his pocket, scurrying towards Stheno.
“Wow!” Stheno says as she sees the chinchilla. “Though you ran off somewhere little guy,” she said.
Carla finishes her chat with Douglas, who explains that his daughters will be staying with her for a week. The two friends part ways. Carla enters her humble but spacious abode and greets her guests, before entering the kitchen to prepare dinner.
✦✦✦
That night, the guests have dinner. The walls, and their unsymmetrical windows and warm colors, tell of both Douglas’ handiwork and how long Clara had lived and taken care of the fauna around here.
The guests sit at a long table, crafted from rich mahogany wood. They sit on furniture modeled after giant mushrooms.
“This is definitely dad’s idea,” Euryale said of the quirky design.
Charlotte helps her mother set the table, setting out several dishes of assorted fruits and vegetables, with some meat from a deceased catoblepas for some of the guests.
Emily looks at the food with a surprised look, seeing it on Carla’s plate as well. “Um,”
“Something wrong?” Carla says. “Did I overcook the meat again?”
“It’s not that,” Emily says. She struggles to find the words to properly express her confusion at seeing an Alraune, a being that she knows is botanical in nature, consume flesh.
Heathcliff senses Emily’s confusion. “You’ll have to excuse Emily, mademoiselle Clara,” the knight says. “This is her first time dining with folk like you, you see.”
“Ah,” Clara says. She is aware of the paradox involving her carnivorous tastes and her duty to care for the animals and monsters.
Sarah looks at the delectable platter and immediately starts scarfing down the dinner with zeal, with only a small awareness of utensil use and table manners. The others are a little surprised at her voracious appetite. She soon empties the dish and wipes her mouth with a nearby napkin. “Got any seconds?” she says.
“Maybe I should make some more groceries next time,” Heathcliff thinks.
✦✦✦
The guests make small talk and introduce themselves to each other. When Clara is finished eating, she heads to the kitchen to prepare Sarah’s second plate.
As she washes the dishes, the Alraune lady looks back at the table, the first time since Samuel’s demise that her house ever seemed so full of life. She wonders why that is. The leather-clad knight enters the kitchen. “Need some help saving the dishes, cher?”
Carla accepts Heathcliff’s assistance. She is surprised at his competence at housework.
Heathcliff washes some of the dishes. “For what it’s worth, this is the first time I saw Sarah pig out like that, that must’ve been some very good food.”
“Thanks,” Carla says. She has a nostalgic expression on her face. Something heavy weight on the Alraune’s mind. “I understand you need someone to help with the animals?”
“Of course,” Heathcliff says. “That’s the reason why we came to Hamlin to begin with, Are you interested in the job, mademoiselle?”
“I’m not sure,” Clara says. Indeed she isn’t even certain why she is entertaining the thought. She loves Hamlin with all her heart, yet something is telling her that love is not mutual. “Tell me, do you ever believe rumors?”
“Rumors?” Heathcliff says with a curious expression. “Not really, folk will say anything if they think it would help them get ahead. Put themselves on pedestals, drag others through the mud, or pass off falsehoods as truth. I don’t put stock in rumors, Carla.”
Carla is a little relieved to hear that. They soon finish the second course for Sarah and Heathcliff delivers it to the young dwarf.
Carla looks out at the kitchen window. From there she can see tall verdant trees, some appear to be as tall as the mountains in the distance. She can see the small cottages of Hamlin, light shining out from the houses. At first, the sight fills her with joy, but now she can feel nothing but dread emanating from it. The moonlight feeling more warm than the village itself. “At what time did the village change?” she thought. “Was it the night Samuel died?”
✦✦✦
When dinner was over, Charlotte took several of the guests, Nina, Euryale, and Stheno, on a tour of her house. The children can see all manner of wild beasts and monsters. From a mimic, to an Orthus, to a Raflessia monster, to an ashwood sapling. The young girls are intrigued by the strange collection of monsters, each well-fed and cleaned.
Nina takes the most interest in the creatures. “Hey, can I get close to them?” she says. “I’ll be really good. Promise!”
“I don’t know,” Charlotte says. “These are still dangerous.” Before she could finish her sentence, the spiderling was already rushing over to the Orthus, staring intently at them.
“Now sit!” Nina says to the Orthus, her gaze locked onto theirs. The twin-headed hound plants its hind on the floor in a stupor.
“Roll over,” Nina says. The Orthus rolls over, still entranced and dazed.
“Beg,” the dog obediently and mindlessly performs the trick.
“Good boy!” Nina says as she pets the monster’s left head before returning to the other girls. The dog’s heads wake up a little confused at what just happened.
“Did she have a dangerous dog perform tricks?” Stheno says, her usual graceful demeanor broken by the shock of the feat.
“We should avoid looking at her eyes,” Charlotte says. “Arachne had potent hypnotic abilities.”
By the time Charlotte finishes explaining the power of Nina’s eyes, Euryale is already enthralled by them and haphazardly performs the same tricks the Orthus did, to Nina’s innocent amusement.
“Nina!” Stheno says. “My sister is not your doll!” she says with a scolding tone.
“Sorry,” Nina says while twiddling her fingers. She breaks the trance on Euryale.
“My head,” Euryale says, slightly more cognizant about what had occurred in the past few minutes.
The four soon head to another room, where they find a small dragon whelp and a family of Nemean lions. Charlotte deters Nian from trying to hypnotize any of the beasts here while making sure she herself doesn’t fall into a stupefeous trance.
Euryale looks at the lion cubs. “Where did these come from?”
Charlotte examines the lions. “I think Mommy told me they had arrived from a marble ruin dungeon near Eastshire.”
“It seems rather strange,” Stheno says. “That humans have trouble passing through the mountains, but monsters and animals can easily slip by.” Her chinchilla looks at the lions with some interest and jumps off her shoulder.
“Chilly!” Stheno says. “What are you doing?”
“You already named the chinchilla?” Euryale says. “Purring the cart before the horse aren’t you?”
“I’m certain mommy and daddy won’t object to the pet!”
Chilly mischievously looks at the lion cubs, each asleep and one is holding a small ball in their paws. The rodent makes a mischievous expression but is stopped by Nina’s silken threads and picked up by Stheno before they can even attempt to dislodge the round toy from the Nemean cub.
The quartet of young girls moves to a different room before Chilly can try again. They arrive at the vacuous living room. Adorned with several furnishings and a fireplace. The Arion girls notice the furniture has the same quirky hallmarks of their father as their own, with dolphin shapes on the armrests, a vibrant lavender and periwinkle color scheme, and intricate weaves of chartreuse yellow, green, and black floral patterns on the floor. The fireplace however is more straightforward.
There the girls sit down and talk about their lives. Euryale mentions Douglas’ carpentry hobby and how Medusa met him when he and Samuel went into Revoto’s valley for wood and charcoal.
Nina meanwhile explains how she was kidnapped by and saved from a cult by her mother and a group of adventurers they now live with. She notices a curious expression on Stheno’s face.
“Something wrong?” Charlotte says.
“Oh, it’s nothing, Lottie,” Stheno says.
“First you nickname the chinchilla and now you nicknamed Charlotte!” Euryale says, “Let me nickname someone for a change!”
“Okay, Eury,” Stheno says with a wide grin. Euryale is left with an expression of furor and humphs at her twin sister. Nina giggles a little.
Charlotte looks at the twins. “Our dads were good friends, right?”
“Of course!” Euryale says.
“Why’d you ask?” Euryale says.
“I was wondering,” Charlotte says.
“What are we talking about?” Nina says.
“Oh,” Charlotte remembers that Nina doesn't live in Hamlin. “My father, he was well known in the community.”
“Samuel was consdiered one of Hamlin’s finest adventurers,” Euryale says. “He’d and Daddy would go out on adventures all the time!”
“Some aspiring bards told of many of his exploits,” Stheno says. “Like the time she stopped a small brigand of werewolves from raiding the village.”
“Of the time he went to Revotos’ Valley to request its aid in building dam to prevent a flood!” Euryale says.
“Or the time he exposed a crooked mayoral hopeful’s dealings with the Vanishers,” Stheno says. “Some even go as far as to hail him a hero!”
“He was also a wonderful husband and father,” Charlotte says. “Or so Mom says.” She sighs, knowing how dearly she misses him.
“It was such a shame he went and croaked,” Euryale says. “Don’t think Hamlin ever recovered from that.
“There are even some rumo—“ Etheno says before catching herself. “No never mind that, let’s talk about something else!”
“Rumors?” Nina says. “What rumors?”
Euryale places her palm on her face. Stheno tries to change the topic. “Just some silly little nonsense, that’s all,” she says.
Charlotte knows exactly what Stheno is trying to avoid. She knows that the hens are gossiping about the possibility that Samuel was killed by someone near and dear to him. She doesn’t know why such slander existed, but her discomfort about the topic is not hidden from the other girls.
Nina soon sees Charlotte’s distraught expression and decided not to press the matter. Carla soon arrives to tell the girls its bedtime and they head to the guest rooms. Telling each other goodnight.
✦✦✦
With the children tucked away and asleep, Carla meets up with Heathcliff in a room set aside for business meetings and visits from important people. A room that had fell into disuse since the passing of her husband.
“I’m curious as to why you are seeing out a tamer,” Carla says.
“Well, Carla,” Heathcliff says. “As we explained before we are having a bit of an animal problem right now. Wee little bêtes are causing a stir in our little place.”
“I see,” Carla says. “And this place is a new Dungeon, yes?”
“Oui,” Heathcliff says. “It came to my attention that the piper from Noir had a more limited skill set, but you seem to be perfectly qualified for this job.”
“I understand,” Carla says. She has some doubts about the job and what it entails. “However you are aware that I put down roots here in little old Hamlin, yes?”
“Of course, cher,” Heathcliff says. “It’s a pretty big risk and this is pretty far from here.”
“So far that,” Carla says. “Charlotte and I would have to move entirety.”
“I understand,” Heathcliff says. “That said, opportunity rarely comes to Hamlin, as isolated as it is from the world. I’m aware that several folks had to leave town to get a job and money to go back there.”
“To say nothing of the treacherous road. You know the perils of Revotos’ Valley, but they pale in comparison to the Darknight Marshes, Gryphon’s Wake, and the Brokeback Mountains themselves.”
“Those peaks didn’t earn that name because of romantic reasons,” Heathcliff says. “I understand if you’re willing to decline, cher. You seem to have a good thing going for you here for now. All I ask is that you think on it for a bit.”
“I’ll have some questions to ask in the morn. I wish to make a fully informed decision here.”
“Of course, Carla,” Heathcliff says. “We ain’t goin’ anywhere for now, take your time.”
“Thank you,” the Alraune says. Heathcliff leaves Carla alone and heads to rest.
“Your bond with this town is misplaced, Alraune” a strange voice echoes in Carla’s mind, otherworldly and masculine. “For she is quick to cast vile judgment.”
Despite the dissimilarities in her voice, Carla takes it as a thought, an intrusive thought, but one nonetheless. She tries to dismiss the thought and the seed of doubt it plants in the woman made of plants.
“Monster, murderer, O the things they call you,” the voice whispers. “The rumors aren’t easily dispelled. They take hold, fester, and corrupt. As long as they conform to perceptions.”
Carla looks back at the town of Hamlin, the gentle moonlight now illuminates the lightless town. Now grown colder without the bright hues of candlelight emanating from the windows.
“The husband slayed, murdered in blood ice cold. Are you certain it was not you at fault?” the cacodaemonic voice whispers.
Carla laughs it off. She knows the rumors are false, yet despite this, she struggles to disprove them. People for some reason believed that Samuel died at her hand.
“Give up, or not, the choice is yours alone.” The voice stops. Carla’s decision is obvious. She would not give up on Hamlin, the town that gave her a home and family, right?
✦✦✦
Meanwhile, Stanley had finished his performance of the day. The rodents of the last part of Hamlin leave the houses and buildings in the dead of night, enthralled by the Bardsong’s melody. They scurry in a line, converting at the village’s maw as they make their way towards a nearby lake. The same destination as the other rats. There they would enter the body of water. They would submerge but never surface.
“And lo, it is done, the rats are vanquished,” Stanley says after a long day’s work. “It took longer than I have expected.” The bard returns to his room at the local inn to rest and await the next day, where he shall confirm the extermination of the vermin and claim his payment.
Over at the Town Hall. Long after the employees and civic servants leave its halls. Several rats sneak into the mayor’s office. They, guided by a cacodaemonic trance enter the room and breach the coffer. The rodents abscond with a gold coin each, before exiting through a hole on the floor. The rodents slowly but surely empty the town’s savings. The strange entity overseeing their egress. Stanley being none the wiser about what is happening at the town hall, or the consequences thereof.