h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

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Omens of Oblivion: Rats, rats, rats

Fiercely swinging the sword, Freya finally managed to slay the rats. Carefully, she approached the hole in the wall where the rats had broken through - could this be a way out?

On the other side of the wall, there appeared to be a mixture of natural caves and catacombs, mixed with constructed tunnels, mostly inhabited by rats. And the occasional zombie. After each fight, and there were several, Freya would carefully examine herself for wounds, worried that she might become infected by some disease, with no healers nor cures at hand.

Light filtered down here and there from holes in the ceiling. Unfortunately, they were too high up for her to reach. Freya caught glimpses of arches and pillars and could not help but thinking that it would have been easier to navigate unhindered up above. She tried to stay in the shadows to avoid drawing attention, but the rats seemed to sense her despite her efforts.

Others had travelled this way before her it seemed, because she came across skeletal remains and various pieces of armour and weapons, some of which she picked up and equipped. Freya managed to use a dagger to unlock the shackles, and dropped them on the ground, feeling a little less of a prisoner.

Quite unexpectedly, she came across the corpse of a goblin. Reluctantly, Freya searched its body and found, among other things, a key. She pocketed it, thinking it might be of use and, sure enough, she soon stood before a locked door. Tentatively, she tried the key - and it fit! The door swung open - only to reveal yet another tunnel.

Seeing the flickering light of a fire ahead, Freya proceeded with the utmost caution, trying to step as lightly as possible. Despite her efforts, she was suddenly spotted by a goblin, a live one this time. Freya hastily retreated, followed by the goblin swinging a battle axe at her.

After a surprisingly brief fight, the goblin lay dead before her. Freya proceeded, now even more carefully, and soon found herself in a rather large cave. She made care to yet again stick to the shadows, as she approached one of the camp fires. Equipping a bow, she rapidly shot off two arrows, and watched a goblin topple over. Another one down, but how many more to go?

Carefully, Freya approached a pit in the middle of the cave. She could hear the now familiar squeekings of rats, but they seemed to be trapped behind some kind of fence. Edging closer, Freya spotted a handle hanging down from the ceiling - surely it had some kind of function? Resolutely, she pulled the handle down, and the rats swarmed out of their enclosure, not only attacking a goblin in the pit, but also alerting the attention of a goblin mage whose existance Freya had been unaware of, until now.

She held still behind a cliff formation, holding her breath, not certain whether the mage had spotted her or not. Once all the rats had been killed, the goblin retreated. It would seem it had not spotted Freya after all. Slowly, inch by inch, step by step, Freya circled the cave, approaching the goblin mage from behind, her sword already drawn so as to not cause any unnecessary noise. She was still some distance away when the goblin seemed to sense something and turned around, spotted her, raised its mage staff and cast a flash of blue light at her. Failing to dodge it, Freya was knocked onto her back. The mage raised the staff again...

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