Final result from Wood Engraving class. The ratbit alone would have obviously looked better but this was supposed to be a learning experience so I added text as an exercise.
Day one of Wood Engraving class. Love the look of the carved block with nothing but that initial ink on it. Tomorrow I’m going to attempt (again) to carve a QR code and finish the .... ratbit?
(The following is an excerpt from the ongoing campaign within the Fence Macabre, continued from Part I: Field of Screams...)
Our heroes approached the Varok Saurfang Memorial Conference Center to find that it had been deserted for quite some time. The doors were locked (seemingly Goblin-proofed), and scaling the walls would be a bigger giveaway than a dead fish in a flower shop. As they considered their options, Remington noticed hoof-tracks that led to behind the large dumpsters in the side alley… hoof-tracks belonging to none other than Bumpo the Forsaken Goat, Billy’s trusted steed and business partner!
Remington attempted to see if Bumpo could track Billy by showing him Billy’s Missing Poster, only to provide the goat with an impromptu snack. The gang then reasoned that if Bumpo has been here and gone without harm all this time, another half-hour or so wouldn’t be much more trouble, and set about breaking into the nearby emergency exit with a smelly, rusted crowbar Remy had found in the nearby dumpsters (not as cool a find as Ratbit’s Perfectly Edible Tuna Hoagie with Extra Pickles, but more useful in this instance). With a group effort, the trio triumphed over this trifling tribulation, traipsing towards the troubling trials ahead...
At last: Inside the Varok Saurfang Memorial Conference Center, into what appeared to be a standard boardroom repurposed for holding coats, luggage, and miscellaneous storage, and performing as an ad hoc office. The seminar was in full swing by the time disaster struck, it seemed. After some careful combing for clues, they found a familiar face in a strange place (along with the lad’s trademark rolling-pop-top-suitcase):
Ratbit pulled a paper out, "Billy's running for ... what?" She sounded out the name, "Braaa-zelll-ton. I thought his name was Billy."
Starships: "Who's Brazelton?" Stars raised an eyebrow from the other side.
Remington: "Runnin’ for President 'a the Forsaken. Some kinda prank from last year, No idea who the hell Brazelton is though."
From there, the crack team of investigators determined that it was time to split up and cover more ground. Starships went forward, into the Atrium. It was never cleaned up from the raid performed on the Vigor & Morris™️ Employee Seminar and its attendees, as dozens of tables being prepped for meals were overturned, silverware scattered, blood and ichor on the tablecloths, a great dishonor before the majestic Varok Saurfang Memorial Fountain.
While Starships stood Starstruck, Remington uncovered a conference room with Vigor & Morris™️ New Product Demonstrations, formulas and patent designs on a whiteboard. The items tested were clearly absconded with as the scene laid in disarray from aggressive extraction of pencil-pushers. Though the three of them tried their best to make more sense of it all, they were left stumped, and so pressed on.
The lobby, perhaps the bloodiest and most damaged scene of them all, left our heroes with deeper concern for everyone involved. How many made it out alive? And how many made it out alive and free? Ratbit found none of these answers at the apparently smash-and-grabbed Snack Cafe, where she did the only Virmane thing she could, and grabbed what snacks remained un-smashed. Remington found a schedule for the Seminar’s events, and resolved to figure out the date and time of when this raid took place...
Starships, meanwhile, experienced the struggle of a lifetime in the lock on the opposite boardroom, labeled “VIP Room.” Knowing full well that there’s absolutely going to be something worth while in any room with that letter combination on it, she set about infiltration. Despite assistance from Remy, the lock proved nigh-invulnerable (and her “Goblin” Army Knife quite useless) for quite some time… But not forever! Brute force won the day as Starships poured all her rage into fatally stabbing a door handle to death, a feat previously thought unimaginable!
And there, within, Starships found the damning evidence: Meeting notes from what must be the proverbial Higher Ups withing V&M™️…
“--impossible to do with the Horde Authorities breathing down our necks, and so this staged raid will be the perfect cover to abscond our best employees and researchers to somewhere where our work can continue safely, in the name of the Banshee Queen...”
“Said Horde Authorities apparently plan to obfuscate the destinations of our underlings using third party caravans and couriers. Luckily, with our wide net of interests, we already own many of the groups in the area, and will be able to track their movements so.”
Among those listed, three were circled in red pencil: Silverpine Package Services, Demon Deliveries, and Boot-Jack’s Skeleton Crew… But there was more:
“...--the perfect candidate for us to back in the no doubt inevitable elections to decide leadership of the Forsaken community. It will be easy to win him over to our side, as he already trusts Vigor & Morris™️ as a whole…”
“We will give him all the funding he needs, and a running mate in Tom Brazelton (one of our up-and-comers from Accounting, a loyal numbers man to back our Charming Figurehead). When he wins, he will serve for a time, ‘disappear,’ and Tom will be in charge.”
Starships could barely contain her excitement as she gnabbed the papers and trotted off to find Remington, upstairs. Ratbit, having examined the opposite conference room, found an equally violently disrupted meeting on the topic of Keeping Up With The Competition, and obtained some interesting tidbits herself (but then again, when doesn’t she?):
“--important to maintain watch over lesser competitors even if their reach does not hold much impact on our own numbers: Their experiences are useful data for our future experiences, and there is no reason to allow them to gain an edge…”
“Even the Cult of the Forgotten Shadow must be observed in this, for they are still in the habit of giving away services we provide at no fee using their magicks. Local service providers such as Gold Cap Dentistry should also be edged out of the market if possible.”
The two cheered each other on for their excellent corporate espionage as they found Remington, above, in the Amphitheater. The least distrubed out of all the areas, presumably there were not many people in this area at the time of the raid… as Remington read over the secrets uncovered by her squadmates, she knew immediately where their next move was, thanks to Loira's corroborative investigations elsewhere: tracking those caravans. Ratbit, ever the curious, uncovered a prepared shower of balloons and a banner to unfurl:
“HIGHMAN/BRAZELTON ‘34!”
It was clear that Vigor & Morris had every intention of launching the new campaign at this Seminar… but were obviously foiled... but by their own hand? Nothing was adding up.
Just then! A noise from downstairs! Who could it be?! The trio trod trepidatiously down the stairs and found a quartet of Orgrimmar Guard… The Patrol began, and our heroes needed to get out unseen! Using a mysterious ancient Virmen technique known as Gastromancy, Ratbit was able to lure away half the guard by Belching Her Voice into the Lobby… They tried to slip out on the other side of the matching stairs, but one of their pursuers approached! With quick thinking and comical timing, Ratbit had this situation in the bag… or should we say… in the banner? She trapped the guard under the recently unfurled banner and they zipped off to their exit...
But not before Remington was spotted by a patrolling guard! With cat-like reflexes, cat-like precision, and cat-like ruthlessness, she threw the crowbar from the dumpster into the guard’s face! The impact, and stench, dazed him long enough to get out through the (now, more than ever) Emergency Exit. Ratbit used her Gastromancy once more to plant the rumor that the spotted invader was a disfigured human in a cowboy hat… which seemed to be believable enough for the guard, as they started shouting around to find exactly that.
The Fence Macabre uncovered a great deal of incriminating information... but can they use it to find their missing Billy, and whomever is behind all of these heinous, evil acts?
TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR ANOTHER EXCITING ADVENTURE WITH...
Some TCotO shapeshifter biology facts I haven’t yet gone into detail on. These apply to both therianthropes and animal-to-animal shapeshifters.
Switcher cell tissues have axolotl-level regenerative abilities.
Shapeshifters have anaesthetic glands which activate shortly before or at the start of shifts.
The reproductive system does not contain switcher cells, meaning that the children of shapeshifters will not be shapeshifters unless they get infected themselves.
