You suddenly hear a scream

You check the wooden figure. It resembles Lunaregina, the goddess of the moon and the tides. She is also called the Mistress of dreams. It is not professional work but more of a hobby, especially since you use your claws rather than a carving knife. But maybe you can sell it on the next marked for some copper coins. Together with the herbs and furs you collected since spring, it should get you a solid amount of money. Enough to cover your current costs and a little extra to save.

You are so deep in your thoughts about your carving that it is a heavy shock when you suddenly hear a loud scream. It sounds like a female voice. It is rare, but sometimes people get lost in the forest or are attacked by wild animals or bandits. But it has been comfy quiet in the last days.

Immediately you jump up and sniff in the air. And there is something. A hint of an unknown rabbit-furry scent. Not one from the village, you know their scent well enough to tell the difference. And there is something else, something disgusting. Rat-people. At least two of them. Ugly little bastards who spread diseases and ****. Probably bandits or hunters from a rat clan. Your senses have never disappointed you. You wonder how you could have missed their presence so far.

Quickly you follow the scents. The Bunny could be in danger. You run fast and the scents grew stronger. They are not far anymore. Two or three hundred meters. On the last twenty meters you get slower. You need to observe the situation first. You sneak closer and finally you could see what is going on.

There is a Bunny with a white fur. You would guess her age at 18 or 20 at best. She sits on the ground surrounded by rat-people, wears typical traveling clothes made of linin. She also has some kind of symbol on the clothes but you can’t see it, because one of the rat-guys blocks your view.

There are three of them. All males, which is not much of a surprise. Rat-people have mostly male children. Only one out of ten is female. Two of the rat guys wear just pants made of linin. They look old and you can see they have been repaired sometimes in the past by someone who has only little skills in this. Similar to your clothes to be honest. The third rat-guy wears pants and a shirt that is at least two sizes bigger than he would need it.

One of the rat-people kneels behind the rabbit-woman and pins her down with strength and his own weight. He and one of the other two rats has a sharp looking iron knife. The last one has a thick wooden stick with a metal ring at the end in his hand.

You don’t need long to find out where these guys come from. One of the topless rats has a symbol painted on his fur with red color. A stylized rat-head. They are members of the so-called Rat-Pack. A group of wild or criminal rat-furries. They are hired muscles, bandits and dept collectors. For little money they do every available dirty work for higher ranking criminals and questionable businessmen.

The good news is, their skills are rather poor. Rat-Pack foot soldiers are high in numbers, but not neither strong, nor very intelligent. Most of them behave undisciplined and coward. You cased several of their men out of the forest and brought the braver ones, who were stupid enough to risk a fight, to the local guard. Still in higher numbers or against defenseless travelers, they can be a huge threat.

They are currently robbing this woman. You could step in and rescue her. Even when all three attack you at the same time, you think your chances to fight them of are not too bad. But are you willing to take this risk for a stranger? They could hurt you during the fight or seek ****.