Earlier, before the events of Chapters 158 and 159
The Hollow was starting to wake up. Most everyone had slept well, with no bad dreams. And no good dreams. In fact, no dreams at all, just sleep. Things seed so much clearer today. It was ti to go to breakfast.
Milo saw most of the Hollow lining up at the ss hall for the morning al. Most mornings breakfast was a long and staggered affair, with people showing up from fourth bell to 9th bell to eat and then the evening al from 6th bell to 12th bell. Was Rifkin serving sothing especially good today? Why was everyone up so early. He carefully peeked through windows.
Rifkin was nowhere to be seen, but several people were at the counter handing out breakfast as fast as they could. But they weren't sitting and talking. Each ratkin took the food handed to them, stuffed it into their mouth and left in a hurry. Milo caught up to a whelp that he knew worked in the mushroom fields.
"Hi, can I ask you sothing? What's for breakfast."
The whelp kept walking, but smiled and spoke. "New Cheese. Tasty and good for ." His eyes were unfocused and he walked on. "Got to go. Need to pick mushrooms. If I pick sixteen baskets today I get to eat dinner and have more tasty cheese!"
Other ratkin had the sa glassy-eyed reaction. All needed to start their daily jobs, with a few exceptions. So of the students seed to have other ideas about what their job for the day would be.
"Ti to make the mashed roots with at drippings."
"Stomp spiderlings, mine the rock."
"Sweeping the cave, need to sweep the cave, dust everywhere."
"Lizard races! Who wants to race Lizards? !"
"Making Spikey-sticks. Do you need a spikey-stick?"
"Must start picking the peanuts."
"Bataco day! Need more bats!
"Polishing shiny rocks."
"Nap ti, study later."
"Slting copper bars. I need to slt copper bars."
Justin was walking along, whistling a happy tune. Milo stopped him to talk. Well, he tried to talk. Justin moved him out of his way and kept walking. "Sorry, got to get to my guard post. Important work guarding the Hollow."
Milo walked beside him. "Justin, have you noticed anyone acting oddly?"
Justin kept walking but paused his whistling. "Nope, or I'd tell them to get to work. Great day to get to work. I'm guarding the back door and Brutus is guarding the front door. Everybody is getting their job done."
"How much cheese did you have this morning, Justin?"
Justin's brow furrowed into a scowl. "Talking about cheese isn't allowed. Say, why aren't you working?" He stopped walking and poked his finger into Milo's chest. "You know the rule against slacking. Everyone follows the rules now."
Milo showed him his ring. "I am working. My job is to scout around, poke my nose into things, and question everything."
Justin nodded, and seed satisfied with that. "Right! That is your job. I rember now." He relaxed, smiled, and started walking again, smiling. "I had three pieces of tasty new cheese because I'm big and I'm a guard. So, I get extra!"
Justin didn't even seem to notice when Milo left, he just kept walking along and whistling as he passed by the Tower of Spite and the mostly empty marketplace. To took up his guard post at the back tunnel overlooking the harvesting fields where dozens of ratkin were gathering up mushrooms and vegetables.
Milo wanted another look at the ss hall. The lines to get in were packed, but it wasn't hard to get in through the back door. He slunk into the shadow nearest the door, then kept low and moved behind the counter. None of the ratkin in the ss hall paid any attention to anything but the cheese. To his surprise, the four ratkin serving squares of cheese on a bland cracker were known to him. Why was Blackwhisker and his little group of players serving cheese in the ss hall?
Luckily, no one had a high perception. Stealthy Skulking was up to rank 8, reducing their perception by 18 and essentially making him invisible as long as he did nothing obviously out of the ordinary. He wanted a good look at this cheese. There were many bags of it behind the counter. A large wedge was brought out of the bag, and then cut into smaller pieces. The player cutting it was handling pieces oddly, and brushing sothing off as he took the wedge out of the bag.
Milo moved up carefully. He needed a diversion, and as he waited, he got one. Master Clawhamr and a group of ten tired miners walked up to the ss hall. Seeing a crowd at one door, they went to the next opening. This got them a few looks from so of the ratkin in the long lines, but no one said anything out loud. The miners looked exhausted. They sat at two tables and Master Clawhamr looked over at the servers. "Hey, buddy. We just worked a double shift, any chance of getting a plate of cheese and so breakfast?"
Blackwhisker barely looked over. "Get in line and wait your turn. That's the new rules, get used to it."
The miners grumbled, and Clawhamr stood up. They'd been working non-stop for over a day with only a couple of hours off to sleep in a corner. Spiderlings were all over the mines, and they had a new infestation of digger-moles to deal with. His crew had worked hard and needed food. He walked over to Blackwhisker. "Where's Rifkin? Who's in charge here?"
The other players snickered. Blackwhisker tried to stare down Clawhamr, but when it didn't work, he put a big smile on his face. "Cheese Master Rifkin isn't here at the mont, and left in charge. How about I get you all a double helping of cheese to start out with."
While all eyes were on the Master Miner and Blackwhisker, Milo put his hand on one of the gather bags of cheese and stored it in his ring, leaving an empty bag behind. Then he backed out of the kitchen area and made his way to the miners. He tucked his pick into his belt, imitating how the miner's stored their own picks. "Hey, I've got plenty of food over at the guard barracks that we can share. Fresh bread that Gennifer drops off every morning and a big wheel of gouda that we just cut open. They don't have a lot to offer here today." He put his hand on his pick, with his Master's ring obvious to see.
Clawhamr looked at him curiously, then nodded. He looked at the ss hall. Sothing wasn't right. Too many glassy stares and strange people handing out cheese. "That sounds like a great idea, I'd love to go have so fresh bread and gouda. Co on buys, ti to empty the larder over at the guardhouse."
Blackwhisker turned around too late to hand the miners a large platter of cheese. He shrugged and stole another piece of cheese. He had a sudden realization of how fun it was to work here in the ss hall, do dishes, and hand out cheese! This was his spot, his job.
As soon as they were outside, Clawhamr turned to Milo. "What the hell is going on? I didn't notice at first, and my guys are dead tired."
Milo led the way to the guard barracks. "I think it's the cheese. I stole so to take a look at it. Everyone is too passive and showing the sa behavior. They don't care about anything other than following orders and getting to work."
One miner elbowed another in the ribs. "Sounds like you could use a few pieces, it might help us get you up in the mornings." The miners chuckled, but they were all looking around and noticing the blank stares as the people of the Hollow lined up for breakfast and then silently got to work. Inside of the guard barracks was more of the sa. The six guards at the barracks were all 'resting'. Just laying on their bunks and staring at the ceiling. They didn't say a word as the hungry miners ate most of the food in the cupboard.
Milo pulled the gather sack that he had stolen from the ss hall out and looked at it. It was full of spider mites. A strong sll of sour cheese filled the air. Clawhamr looked at it and started cursing. "That's spider cheese, or sothing like it! Why would anyone serve that in the ss hall? And where did it co from?"
That seed obvious to Milo. "Have you seen the cheese caravan? It showed up with sixteen carts full of cheese."
Clawhamr hadn't. The ergencies in the mines had kept him busy. The miners had barely sat down and had a minute to eat, but Clawhamr stood up and spoke. "Don't like the sll of this, and not just that cheese."
"Grab so bread and gouda to go. I want you guys to fan out. Get everyone who lives around the mines, or works in the crafting area gathered up. I don't want anyone eating any cheese from the ss hall until we figure this out. In fact, get everyone into the mines. We've had etings in the cathedral cavern, lets head there. It has fresh water and lots of space. Grab all the fresh food you can."
As the miners were leaving, the twins ca in through door.
"We ca to report."
"The way good scouts do."
"We followed Rifkin. He is very, very sneaky."
"So sneaky!"
"Which we found strange."
"Almost lost him, so he must be sneaky."
"He t with four players."
"They are not sneaky."
"So not sneaky, the opposite of sneaky."
"Which we need a word for."
"They spent a lot of ti talking."
"Making sneaky plans."
"But really just explaining where all the pots and pans are."
"How to cook boiled groats."
"And how much cheese to give each person."
"The players went to the ss hall."
"Rifkin then headed to the cheese caravan for more cheese."
"We followed because..."
"Cheese Caravan!!!"
"...because we are good scouts!!"
"Yes, who cares about a cheese caravan full of tasty cheese..."
"We followed Rifkin, but could not get close. Very good guards."
"Not so good as Justin and Brutus, but lots of them."
"Guards with good eyes, we could feel them one us in the shadows."
"Rifkin was in a tent with a big, loud rchant who shouts like Gilad does when he is angry with us."
"We went to just take a small peak at the caravan."
"They have many carts full of cheese, but also many carts of armor and weapons."
"And two carts filled with scary, horrible death!"
"Fiends! They have two Cheese Fiends with them."
"We left!"
"That is the good scouts report for the day."
Milo looked at them. "Good job, you get a reward."
The twins looked alard, and hung their heads.
"It would be nice if the reward was cheese..."
"but we suspect it will be another job."
Milo handed them a bag. "Why not both? Take that to Old Healer."
"And I wouldn't eat any of it, it has spiders in it. Tell Old Healer everything you just told , then go find Master Gilad. And whatever you do, don't eat the cheese at the ss hall."
The twins skulked out of the guard barracks muttering to themselves.
"Spider Cheese?"
"Worst cheese reward, ever."
Milo went back to the the ss hall and skulked around the back where he had entered before. If anything, it was easier to sneak into the the kitchen area. There were four gathering bags of Milbenkase left. He put two into his ring, and grabbed the other two. No one at all looked his way and he retreated, making his way outside. He stashed the bags of cheese on a part of the roof where they couldn't be seen. The less of this cheese that got eaten, the better.
That done, he thought he should head over to the caravan and find Rifkin. He was headed that way when two ratkin walked by carrying a stretcher with a wounded miner on it. They had co running from the direction of the mines. Milo asked them to stop. "I have a healing potion, let give him that. What's happening." He pulled a potion from his pouch, one of the ones he had found in the hidden tunnels. The potent redy imdiately relaxed the wounded miner, and his wounds ceased bleeding. Milo examined him. He had a good idea of what had made those wounds. "What did this?"
"Not sure, he said sothing big and clanky. But that sure ans trouble. We've had tons of little nuisance mobs. Spiderlings all over the place. Then digger-moles, and now there's sothing big in the mines, blowing stuff up."
"I'll going to head there now. But he still needs attention. Run him to Gendifur or Old Healer. And tell Master Gilad, Master Arlothe, or any guard you see walking around." They ran off with their less wounded miner, and Milo headed the other way
As he was running to the mines, he passed the tunnel to Larry's house. He hadn't seen Larry at breakfast. Another mystery. Sounds were reaching him, explosions in the mines. From behind him he heard shouts from the tunnel leading to the caravan. He wondered what was going on, but it had to wait, he had so sort of chanical monster to deal with for now.
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