From: The Dreamer Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1992 09:57:40 EST Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [KQ][MI] Rat: Too Close for Comfort The snow was still falling over the Low City. This was strange considering Generica's usually temperate climate stemming from its proximity to the ocean. Mages would talk idly about the snow for years as a strange but harmless happening. For those in the Low City, the snow brought fear. Fear a harsh Cold Time, fear that there would be more deaths and less food. Fear that the Rich Folk would stay in their warm homes and not venture out where the beggers could ask for a copper or two. The older Low City dwellers told stories of the snow and how it would blanket the earth in whiteness for months at a time. Closer to the Center, Little Rat shivered. She didn't remember the Cold Time coming while the day was still this long. She stood closer to Delmara for warmth and reassurance. Now that Little Rat had paid her debt to Alfvaen, she would have to leave and find a place to stay for the next few months. She had heard of girls her age going to work for the pretty ladies who did the bad thing for money, but now that Little Rat saw how they lived, she wanted nothing to do with them. She could always sell herself into slavery. Perhaps she would get lucky enough to get a master from Ramshan, but most likely, she'd be beaten to death before she reached the age of ten. "Do whatever you can to make it to the next day" her "brother" had told her. Good advice from a survivor. Little Rat saw the strange people coming out of the Center. From the look of them, she could tell that Creepy Charlie had done his work that night. After they came close, Little Rat pulled on Delmara's robe. "We gotta get outta. I got dis bad feelin' about da Center. 'Sides, It's gettin' cold out here...da Spittin' Cobra is close. We could go dere an' I could get Trawm ta fix dem up." she indicated the wounded Kron Questors. Love and Peace and Slang, -The Dreamer-