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Wyspr was poking around in the cold box, looking for something to eat. In the back room, I had dug a pit and put a chest inside, surrounding it with straw. A heavy trapdoor covered it all and sat flush with the flooring. Every few days I would journey to Ice Isle and chip a few packfuls of ice to bring home and pack into the hole around the chest. This worked tolerably well in keeping food fresh for a longer time than usual. Wyspr jerked his head out of the box and made an awful face. "Ewwwww." he moaned, holding up a bag that was covered with green fungus. "Leftovers gone bad." I laughed and told him the mold undoubtably had medical benefits and he should investigate it. Shouldering my pack full of MIB maps, I walked out the door quickly to avoid having the moldy bag thrown at me!

I boarded The Darjeeling and asked the tillerman to set sail. The morning was brisk and bright, whitecaps turning the often placid sea into a choppy surface. The ship heeled over as the sail caught the wind and we were soon speeding over the ocean. I had twelve maps to places where shipwrecks had occurred and we visited each spot. Soon, my pack was bulging with seashells, barrel staves and treasure chests. I grinned with glee as I considered the fun it would be to open the chests and see what was concealed inside. We made a brief stop at Skara Brae while Dan, the tillerman, went into a shop to buy another plug of tobacco, and then set sail directly south of the Skara Brae docks.

Only three more locations and I was done! I was looking forward to the grand chest opening. I checked to make sure my fishing rod was in good shape and heard a horrible GROWL! Dropping my fishing rod in dismay I backed up. How could fishing rods growl? Was I going crazy? Was it going to turn into some sort of monstrous snake or something? Suddenly pain lanced into my plate covered buttocks and I whirled about to see a Deadly Sewer Rat onboard the ship, shreds of plate steel dangling from its slavering jaws.

Oh, that was better, at least I wasn't going crazy. The rat had growled, not the fishing rod. But then, come to think of it, this wasn't very good at all because I was totally unbuffed. I always buffed up when I was fishing because it was dangerous but when I retrieved MIBs I didn't bother usually. Uhoh, I didn't like this situation at all. On land, I'd maneuver about and be able to dash off and heal if I had to but this monstrosity was inside my ship!

The Rat leaped again and I fended it off with my shield. I started healing myself as I gulped a potion and continued to battle the vicious Rat. But, it was the poisonous variety and my health and abilities sank alarmingly. I kept the ship going full forward in hope the rat would somehow fall overboard but it was too tenacious and sure footed for that. The battle raged for awhile but neither my unbuffed abilities or my healing prevailed.

I died as The Darjeeling sailed o'er the bounding waves. The Rat ripped Darlin apart and then shook itself with evil satisfaction and walked off over the ocean. Fortunately, Dan the tillerman speaks Ghostese and I asked him to furl the sails. He did so with his usual efficiency and then leaned back against the bulwark and asked me if I'd care to be resurrected.

Msgs began pouring in and I really appreciated the concern that was expressed but there was little anyone could do. I asked Dan to res me which he did promptly, just as an air elemental rose up from the surging sea alongside us. It looked at me standing there with weak, shaky legs in my deathrobe and laughed breathily. I frantically began grabbing items from my corpse so I could heal as I yelled for Dan to sail full forward! The ship shot forward, nearly sending me over the side and a lightning bolt lanced down from the clear sky to impact upon my feeble, newly resurrected form with lethal effect.

I stomped my ghostly foot in anger, an action that did absolutely nothing but make me feel better. This time, Dan took his time asking me if I wanted to be resurrected. He finally asked and after scanning the area closely, I agreed. I immediately had him start sailing again as I dressed myself.

Tonight, I intend to gather a few hardy souls and take a short voyage to the south off the dock of Skara Brae. I bet that Rat is just waiting for another unwary sailor. This beast must have originated in the great lethal rat invasion of Skara a few weeks ago. It was never seen since it was offshore and patient as its kind often are, it waited. I laughed as I remembered Wyspr thinking that HE had a bad leftover to deal with.

I seen that rat on tracking, i wondered where it was