Bloodpack: A letter from Flea

Dear Mum and Dad,

I am writing to let you know that I am alive and well and have landed on my feet. You would be quite proud if you could see your little Flea now! I have met some good people I am proud to call my friends, and we have had some interesting adventures in Rattledam, and on the Sargrass Plains, where I now make my home.

When I first arrived in Rattledam, I didn’t know anybody, and there was a big guy who started to pick on me. I was quickly rescued by a ‘pack’. That’s what they call any group of friends who band together in this place. The people who jumped in to help me were Trellus. He’s a big strong human with blond hair and blue eyes. He has a family in Rattledam, and a troublesome little sister named Jenny. He’s a really good guy. He has dedicated his life to a god he calls Domi, and calls himself a cleric. He makes sure we all take care of ourselves, and when we are unwell or hurt, he makes us feel better. He has lots of good ideas, and keeps the pack focused. Grymash is funny. He can really eat a lot of food and he tries to be nice, but sometimes he gets really angry. He gets angry mostly when somebody is picking on his friends. He’s not too smart, but he’s really strong. You see, he’s a half-orc. He’s not bad though, really! Jacob is a half-elf. He’s taller than me, but not very fat. Actually, he’s kind of skinny. Some people say he’s a lazy good-for-nothing, but I’ve seen him fight, and he’s really good. He likes girls a lot, but I think he’s shy. Anuk is another one of my new friends. He’s really nice to me, and we do a lot of things together. He is really good with his bow, but he’s kind of nervous around magic. Mom, you would really like him, ‘cause he’s kind of artistic. Gilan is the serious one. I live with him. It’s not like that! He’s got a gir lfriend! Just the same, he is kind of cute. He is strong and has long black hair. He also has two pet wasps named Tiev and Zilia.

There were two other guys with us. Milo who knew magic and how to cook, and Sterlin, a very serious and quite guy with two spiders. They’re not with us anymore, but I’ve met a brand new friend, and she’s a wizard! Her name is Liana. Anyway, this is what has happened to me and my friends in the last little while.

My friends have this teacher named Malafret and she sent us on a quest to learn. It was kind of like what you called a field work assignment, Dad. We had to go out onto the land around the city of Rattledam and learn about the circle of life. We didn’t have a map of anything, but we did have a very special compass. Sterlin was the guy who held the compass for us and told us which way to go. After walking for a long time in the long grass, under the hot sun, we saw the first event. There was a big circle where some beasts had grazed the grass down really low. These beasts are called Prairie Pigs. They look like the garden slugs back home, except that they are as big as a dog! The people here eat their meat! Well, some of these pigs were making strange cocoons that were as hard as rock. While we were standing around trying to figure out what to do, some Bounders came up and started to attack the cocoons. Bounders are really nasty beasts as big as a horse. They look like a cross between a frog and a bulldog and they have really sharp teeth. When they saw the cocoon things, they went crazy and tried to destroy them. We all had to work really hard to fight them off and save the cocoons. One of the Bounders got Milo. It swallowed him whole. I got hurt pretty bad, but my friend Trellus fixed me up good as new. Then the cocoons opened up and there were baby Bounders inside! This was really weird for us. Just as suddenly as they showed up, the nasty beasts disappeared and took the baby Bounders with them.

We continue across the plains some more, directed by the strange compass held by the druid, Sterlin. We found an encampment where some Raiders were torturing a little halfling named Vestrati. We were able to rescue him but Trellus and Gilan almost got killed. Jake and Anuk were really brave, and after being magiced away, Grymash came back and the Raiders ran away. I think it was the half-orc that scared them, but it could have been the Moth.

The grass crackled and popped when the great beast flew overhead. It looked like a snake, only it had great, large wings. It was preceded by a flock of small birds, and followed by a storm the likes of which I have never experienced before. Oh! To have been safe in a burrow under a hill! Well, we did survive. You would have been proud of your daughter! I thought to peel the sod back from the ground, and we made a circle of soft earth on which to stand.

We traveled some more across the land and witnessed another event. We found some Bounders, but they were sick and couldn’t move. They tried to snap at us, but they were too ill. While we watched the beasts seemed to die, but out of them came the worst kind of beast to roam the Sargrass Plains-Rapke.

Rapke are very big and look like a lizard and a horse all mixed up together. When they scream, they make me so very afraid. These Rapke didn’t hurt us, though, because a powerful ranger called a Plainstrider found us and showed us how to make some protective magic. He even did some magic and made a cave for us to sleep in. I didn’t like him very much, but he made a very nice cave. I don’t know what his real name was, but we all called him Mr. Black.

It wasn’t long before we discovered another strange occurance. There was a big water bubble on the ground. One of my friends, Grymash, thought something bad might be in the water bubble, and Sterlin tried to stop him. Suddenly, some of the evil beasts called Rapke started to attack the bubble. We decided to fight to save it. Jake, the fighter got hurt really bad. When the bubble burst, a Moth emerged and flew away. Sometimes when a wild Rapke dies, if the conditions are right, a bubble will form around it’s dead body and it will evolve to become a great Moth. The Moth scared the Rapke away.

Shortly afterwards Mr. Black came back. He took Sterlin away with him. We were all very sad when Sterlin went away, but we knew it was what he needed to do. Sterlin gave Gilan the compass. Gilan was the only one who seemed to be comfortable with what we were seeing, and understand it. The rest of us had a hard time understanding the strange cycle of these animals.

We came upon some traders in their boats. They seemed suspicious about us, and we were suspicious about them. They told up about a place where there was a Moth graveyard. He also told us about some armies that were forming up in the west. We continued our adventures and had some trouble with really hot weather conditions and a little tornado called a dust devil. Trellus and Gilan looked after us, though, and we got along okay. A new girl came out to meet us. At first we thought it was a mirage, but she said her name was Liana. She knows how to use magic. She brought us to the bone yard, and we met up with Mr. Black, and a really powerful druid who is a leader of the Manfri people who live on the Sargrass Plains.

We were really tired from our trip, and sad about Milo getting killed and Sterlin leaving us. We kind of had a fight with Mr. Black and argued with him because we didn’t understand what we were supposed to do. When we asked him questions, he answered with riddles. All we wanted were some straight answers. Anuk and Trellus got really upset. Even Gilan wasn’t his usual calm self. Grymash just wanted to kill stuff. I felt like crying and I wanted to go home. The Mankife, told us a story and we all fell asleep. I had a terrible nightmare, but it helped me understand what I needed to do. That morning we prepared for battle.

Mom, Dad, you would have been so proud! There was an enormous cocoon in the middle of a nest of white bones. The cocoon was beautiful. It was like a great giant opal. Something was alive in their, and it made me feel good to be close to it. A great army was there to defend the cocoon. When night came, so did the barons’ men with their evil beasts. I have seen wild bounder and rapke, but the animals that are trained up by the barons’ men are evil abominations! They attacked us, trying to get at the cocoon. But, we stopped them! We stopped them, and what was in the cocoon came out. It was terrible and it was beautiful, but it was good. Mr. Black called it a Drake. We couldn’t really see it, but you could feel it and sense it. The Mankife, the really powerful Manfri druid, got on the Drake, and the Baron’s men ran away! We won!

Afterwards, Mr. Black told us about the rest of the cycle and helped us understand. Before we headed back to Rattledam, we were given some swag. It was our fair share of the booty collected from the defeated army.

I’m taking a little break in Rattledam, now. My hair is a mess. It’s been all bleached out by the hot sun on the plains. I really must get myself a hat before we head off on our next adventure.

Don’t worry about me, though. I’ve got great friends to look after me.

I miss you. Your loving daughter,

Furtif Aeanora Flibbertigibet