Great Haven - sup

What are those green things?

>Could you ask anyone who's awake about this? Because you're not missing a mother, in fact, you're a traveler from another town. You have to insist that fact.

>Ask around if she made it back here, and if so can you talk to her?

As you all might have noticed, I haven't been updating very much lately. I still plan on it! My goal is to update every week.

However, I'm currently taking two majors in college right now, and that has swallowed up all my time. That means leisure time, sleep time, time to get a job and make money, and time to work on this comic. My life has been very stressful lately.

The good news is that, I'm taking steps to improve that - for the rest of the school year, I'll be taking fewer courses to help manage my stress level, and with that comes time to work, and time to have my hobbies again. I may even have time to set up a website for the various things I do, and possibly a Patreon. That would allow me a lot more freedom to work on the things I love.

My plan right now is to update again sometime next month, and return to weekly updates by the new year.

In any case, thanks for sticking with me for these several years - I'm looking forward to many more.

I just caught up and this is absolutely magnificent. I love everything about your style, your characterization, your willingness to go with commands and interpret them in a fun way-- it's just an absolute treat. Especially the setting! There are lots of little details that remind me of other things, but it really carves out its own voice in a lot of fantastic ways. I can't wait to understand more of the lore and complexity, because what you've already shown of just the hiir is very, very compelling. Li'l mice people from a tower who have gangs and operate like completely mature adults? Yes.

Thank you, and thank you for the update. Good luck with everything, and good luck to Raoul!

have a look around here and immediately outside.

Through this hole in the wall, you can see that you're quite a ways up. There are lots of cool lights, and from the sounds of things, lots of people too. You wonder what's going on.



But you also wonder what's higher up. The air resonates with deep and regular regular clunks of metal, the spaces between which are filled with silent Hiiri chatter. The smell of oil and wet hay is overwhelming - it's a familiar scent, but somehow distinct from the den in Loroni. This place has magic-based heating, or you assume so, because even with an open window behind you, you're not standing in freezing night winter air.

You can sense that the size of this clan is over twice that of your old one, but most of them appear to sleep at this time; you can hear snippets of their dreams. You would join them, but you can't stand the noisiness yourself.

What are those green things?

You've already had your fill of food after the local chieftains made a scene out of bringing you here. There's still a lot of melon bread left over, and all those dried fruits and meats - it makes for excellent comfort food, but you're mostly over what happened earlier today. You've been through worse. Probably.

They sure have a lot of food, though. You'll be damned if these guys aren't sitting on something good.

...You miss your bandanna.

Look around and see if you can find the leaders

Well, you were going to sulk for a few days, but you suppose now is as good a time as any to start moving again - it felt like you were here just last week, but you know that's not true. You call the attention of someone listlessly hanging out, much like you are, and climb up next to them.

"...Pardon me," you ask. "Do you know where I can f-"

"Whutzat? Speak up, I can't hear ya, son."

The interruption reminds you of the bad taste you've had in your mouth since a few hours ago. But you were raised to be patient. "...Do you know where I can find the chieftains? I wanna know how to get out of this place."

"What?" His face twists in confusion until it looks like he realizes something. "Ooh, heck, you're that kid what stole a shawl to join the market raid. You've got guts."

"No," you say. "That isn't what happened. Where can I find the chieftains?" you ask again.

"The usual place. Why, are y'gonna take back that apology?"

You shudder, but somehow keep your composure. The worst is over now, and you tell yourself it's time to bounce back. "Where is the usual place? I'm... I'm not really from around here."

"Uh. They're down below, then, with Farragus and them. T'see about Felna's wound. I doubt they'll let you near her right now." He shifts his weight to begin standing up. "I can't sleep with the show going on tonight, so I figured I would go up top to watch it. It looks like you can't sleep neither, so I'd let you join me if you like."

You tell him you'll have to think about it.

"...Well, you've seen enough blood today, any which way. But if you're new here, I'll show you around - 'nless you really wanna see how Felna was doing. Up to you."

Hearing that makes you think sulking wasn't a bad idea after all.

>Get him to show you where Felna is, then try to secretly heal her with magic.

(This adventure is the bee's pajamas! Can't believe I didn't know about it sooner.)

>Comment on how they have so much good stuff. How this clan became so wealthy?

Hiiri can sense what others see when they sleep? Do they have shared dreams?

Get him to show you where Felna is.

You convince him to take you to Felna, though he says you won't be able to get very far before you're stopped. It sounds like the chieftains are all meeting with this Hawren called Farragus, who seems responsible for the clan's location. The massive food stockpile is only due to their size, not their wealth. "If it weren't for Farragus," he adds, "we'd all be stuck back at the old den, outside the city. That old place just wasn't working out, t'say the least."

"I can relate," you tell him.

He continues. "If I'm bein' honest, this place ain't gonna work out for too much longer neither. Especially at the rate we're picking up outsiders... no offense."

"I don't want to stay anyways," you say, waiting for a chance to interject. "Do you know how I can get my bandanna back? It was a gift from a friend."

He doesn't get what you mean at first. "Your what? You mean that blue shawl you were wearin' when you ran into Felna? Pretty sure they took that back to Farragus so they could see if it were one of theirs; non-scouting members aren't allowed to have neckwear or magical items. Maybe you ought to see them after all, but..."



"...You're gonna have to get past Rye first."

You can sense that Felna and the rest of the chieftains are a short walk through a tunnel past that door.

"She'll put up one helluva fight, too. And I'd much rather watch the fights outside." The rumbling of the audience outside is louder down here. You thank him, and he begins to head up top, saying that you can meet him again by climbing until there's nothing left to climb. Though you can't say you're too excited about rubbing elbows with the locals just yet.

>Lie that you have something super important to tell to the chieftains, and it's for their ears only.

>Trick Rye by throwing a rock to make a distracting noise.
>If that doesn't work, just go watch the thing.

Try to sneak past them.

You wave you new acquaintance goodbye, and wait for him to be out of sight before you do anything else. First, you throw a few rocks at the wall behind the guard - it seems pretty clear that she's asleep, so sneaking past should be easy. Shouldn't it?

Standing up tall on your hindlegs, you start to sidle on past her... until you need to think about the different routes you need to take. Above all else, you need to avoid the risk of touching her. Maybe it would be easier if you snuck underneath the wooden cover, but there's not very much space behind that and the bin of dried mortar either. The sound of it clattering to the ground would be disastrous. By now, you'd be thinking of ways you could snag the sword before she could...



...But as you plan, the sight of Rye waking up sets a flutter of panic in your heart. "Hmnn," she yawns. "...What exactly are you doing over here, kid?"

You hold your position, until you decide that you've already seen the worst today. You couldn't have less respect for an authority that takes away your belongings. "I have a message for the chieftains," you tell her. "And it's for their ears only." You thought it up on the spot, but it wasn't entirely false.

Unfortunately, Rye is much more informed than you are. "The chieftains are already discussing matters known only to them. You may as well tell me, so I can go tell them myself. Weren't they talking with you earlier?"

"Well," you think aloud, wracking your mind for another convenient excuse. "It's important that I tell them myself, because..."

Volunteer as a scouting member.

"...I want to be a scouting member!" You put on the most comfortable face you can, something you are well practiced in. "Honestly didn't get a good chance to say it, but I always wanted to be with you guys and help provide for the clan. And, get some fresh air and... all that."

"We could all use the fresh air here," she replies.



She also points her sword at your chest; it wouldn't be the first time this happened to you in the last 24 hours. "I sure hope you're willing to stick to that story. So tell me, why should we let you be a scouting member?" Your will is visibly faltering. "You look a little young to me. What can you do that the others can't?"

Magic. Not very good magic (yet), but magic nonetheless

Do as wheat says. Rye will want evidence of any skill you claim to have, so try not to exaggerate.

Is there a way to demonstrate your magical abilities without knocking out Rye? Having the ability to use magic is the only thing you can offer, and Rye would be blind to ignore the value of magic in favor of superstition.

"w-well, I may not be experienced, but I have a lot of heart! And determination! And, uh, I was always really good at hide-and-seek..."

>you can do personal favors, if she knows what you mean hint hint nudge nudge

Magic.

You don't know how to answer that. It's not that you don't know the obvious answer - it's how you fear she would react. Who knows what the people here think of magic? If anything was a curse at your old den, it was the stigma... and you're still not sure what to think of it yourself. So you decide to start with the smaller stuff, and take a step backward from the sword's tip. "...I'll be honest," you say, "I don't have a lot of experience, but... I was always real good at hide and seek, and I can make a good snowhiir."

Rye looks unimpressed, and lowers her sword to see if there were others waiting for her to be distracted. She doesn't bother to stand up. You didn't come all this way to be trapped in a place like this, so you brace yourself and add, "I can use magic pretty well, too."

She sighs. "That doesn't sound particularly special. Anyone can throw sparks with enough practice, you know." She demonstrates by snapping little arcs of electricity between her digits.

Now comes the moment of truth. "Just yesterday," you continue, "I took down a rozo by myself. One zap, and he was out."

"Please. You're a bad liar." She swishes her tail behind her and yawns, eyes heavy as though she wanted to go back to sleep. "Hmm. But at least you're not cocky about it." She scratched her chin in thought. "...I'll tell you what. If you can show me you're as powerful as you say, then I'll let you down to see the chieftains with Farragus."

You choke a little as you speak. "...I don't actually have a lot of control over it. And I don't want to hurt you."

"So what I'm hearing is, you don't have any evidence for it?"

Try not to exaggerate.

Beating around the bush doesn't seem to help your case, and you're getting tired of not being taken seriously. At least, being a magic user doesn't seem to hold the same weight here as it did back home. It's at this moment that you realize you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. So you tell her everything.

"...Okay. I don't even want to be a scout." You note the change of tone in your voice. "I was about to buy a tunic earlier today, with money that I got for knocking out that rozo. I had... I had over ten thousand spice given to me, and then taken away, today. And now I'm here. ...I just wanna find the toril who still has it, before they leave town."

You pause, feeling a familiar dryness in your throat. "...I'd do anything," you say, "to find her."

She did save your life, after all.



Rye stands up with a look of grim curiosity. "...Okay. Let's say what you're telling me is true, and let's say we find that torill. What are you going to do after?"

Her stance reminds you of your small stature. "...I'll give the clan some of the money, and then I'll be on my way."

"...And how much money did you say you had?"

"I had eighty-seven hundred spice, when I lost it," you say.



Suddenly, a there is a familiar ringing in your ears. The source is obvious this time; Rye is talking to the chieftains.

"Ahem. Rohan, this is Rye. You guys happened to find a small bag while you were out there, didn't you?"

There is a delay, until another voice comes from somewhere far beneath you. "Yeees, yes, this is Rohan. We have the one. This had better be good, Rye."

"I have an important question," she responds. "Did you find it in the sea?"

"Yes, we did," came the other voice again.

"And just about how many guards did you kill to get it?"

There is another delay, about ten seconds long - and a slight stirring in the air as the other hiiri start to wake up. The crowd outside was one thing, but this was kind of hard to ignore. Finally, a third voice pierces the darkness. "This is Moe. I counted there to be seven yellow ones, and eight purple ones."

Rye takes a deep breath, and sighs. "...It appears that bag belongs to the young one you found wandering outside, and he wants to be a scout to get it back."

"What?" says a voice, which you recognize as Felna's. And then there is a long, long silence.



Growing impatient, she steps aside. "Just go down, already," she says out loud, preparing herself to fend off the small crowd gathering nearby. "The rest of you can back off."

You just follow your orders.


____





The way down is pretty straightforward, although it's dark, even for a hiir. But at least you can catch the bends in the path before you run into them. Sometimes the floor gets steeper, or a wooden frame lines the walls... and you only seem to take left turns. The voices of chieftains arguing about you bounce around in your head, and you are tempted to tell them all to shut up - but you know better, and instead flatten your ears to try and quiet them.

You are really glad telling the truth seemed to work; you aren't particularly proud of some of the things you would have tried otherwise.

Eventually, you see a light...



...And find yourself in a quaint little room.

Upon seeing you, the Hawren standing over the group shakes his head. "What on earth is going on? Why won't you guys tell me anything?"

You definitely recognize the rest, but you don't know their names. Someone who looks like Felna is sitting in the back, but you can tell it isn't her. The first one to speak among them, the grey one, must be Moe. "...Hello again," he says, pulling on his scarf.

Everyone else just stares at you, like they don't know what to say. ...You don't really know what to say, either.

>Introduce yourself politely and tell them what you are here for.

Tell them that you really miss your friend

>Your bag was enchanted by the person who disappeared with your money, and you need it to track her.
>Get assigned an unlikely partner, start your search for Maya in a buddy cop movie fashion where you learn to appeciate your differences.

Tell them why you came here. Its safer to tell the truth than to tell lies. ...they'll probably know anyways.

>sup

So you figure a friendly greeting is as good as any place to start. You give the group an anxious, but friendly wave hello. “Heeyy,” you ask, “You guys don’t happen to have my spacebending bag, do you?” Getting to lead the conversation with these guys is a nice change of pace. “...My name is Raoul, by the way. I didn’t, uh, get to say that earlier.”

You sure feel out of place here.



The black one with the red vest stands up on the table. “...Alright. You can call me Rodell, then. I’m going to ask you a few questions.” His stare pierces your very being. From behind the table, he pulls up a familiar brown saddlebag, the very same that you had since leaving Loroni. The same that Maya had when she disappeared with Deline. “So, are we to understand that this was your bag, then?”

You quietly nod your head, and he goes on. “Can you tell me what was in it when you lost it?”

You respond to the best of your knowledge. Telling the truth got you this far, anyhow. “There was... eighty-seven hundred spice,” you say. The number is burning into your mind. “...And a couple of fruits, I guess.”

The one on the far left with all the piercings interjects. “Was that all you had in there?” His worn voice sounds like Rohan’s from earlier.

Before you can answer, Rodell snaps back at him. “Don't interrupt me, old man. I’m following a very specific line of questioning here.”

Rohan calmly shakes his head. “...It doesn’t matter, but fine..”

“Good.” His attention shuffles, and lands on the hawren. “Farragus, is our guest telling the truth?”



The hawren pulls some kind of device from his pocket, and begins to speak. “That’s... again, that’s not how this thing works, but yes, he appears to be telling the truth.”

Then, his eyes narrow in on it. “...Well, he could be lying about one thing, but I... I really don’t think it’s what you think it is.”

As he speaks, the other hiiri in the room look you up and down as if judging your ability.

Rodell demands your attention once more. ”Ahem. Raoul.”

“Yes sir,” you reply.

“What else did you have in that bag?”

It’s safer to tell the truth than to tell lies.

You stand your ground. “Nothing,” you say. “That was it.” You aren’t lying about anything.

Frustrated, Farragus just sets the device down. “...I don't think this guy has any reason to hide whatever you found in that bag. Didn't you have to talk to him about raid incompetence earlier, any which way?”



Rodell remains unsatisfied. “This is way more serious than the raid.”

“He clearly doesn't know what you're talking about.”

“You don't even know what I'm talking about, bird.”

“I guess I don’t, but I know Rohan only brought you here for combat expertise.”

This really seems to push his buttons. “I’m here for a lot more than that, you know. Do I need to remind you of your own situation here with us, mister Grand Magician Athenaeum?”




Out of nowhere, the last one brooding in the back of the room shouts out. “Oh for crying out loud, this is going nowhere. Just give him the scribbums already!”

Immediately, there is protest. Rodell jumps to his feet. “No. No, don’t do that. I refuse. Cease this.”

The others watch, while Farragus extends a single feather-digit. “Please,” he shouts. “This is ridiculous. Not in front of our visitor!”

Moe talks over him. “No, they’re right. You clearly need this right now.”

“No, you jerks. This is embarrassing. Aaaah..!”



With a few scratches behind the ears, Rodell is... distracted for a bit. “....fffffine, finefinefine. You win already, okay. N-nnno, s... j-just, get the left side please. ...Okay, now stop!”

Meanwhile, Moe gets back to business. “Do we tell him about the other thing?”



Rohan quickly responds with a decisive “No. But, we should give it back to him. And, Raoul?”

“Yes?” you respond.

“We heard your story from Rye when she sent you down, though you probably heard it too. And everyone else I guess.” He shuffles awkwardly under his cloak. “If you came here to see Felna, she was brought into Farragus’s office. Is there anything else we can help you with?”


“...Well, I really miss my friend,” you say.

Moe swallows a lump in his throat. “That... will be difficult. But we will do our best.”

“In the name of fate,” Rohan declares, “the services of the clan are at your disposal, free of charge.”

“WHAT?” shouts an exasperated Rodell. “Y-you can’t be serious!”

>Now would be a good time to stop telling the truth and just nod eagerly as if you knew what's going on. Ask the clan to search for Maya before they realize that there's some kind of misunderstanding going on.

>Now would be a good time to stop telling the truth and just nod eagerly as if you knew what's going on. Ask the clan to search for Maya before they realize that there's some kind of misunderstanding going on.

I think at this point they have the full picture of what happened to Raoul and what he wants. It's best I think just to be honest, get our stuff back and try our best to get out, now that we're on good/neutral footing with most of the leaders.

(I don't have much to suggest atm bc I should really get to writing my own stuff but just posting here to say sweet update and I'm glad this is back!)