By the time Remian arrived on site, Daring Drum was in a very, very bad mood.He roared. He cursed. He swore. He used a lot of bad language that none of the humans except Remian understood. He squirmed and struggled valiantly…All to no avail. DD was, to put it mildly, stuck. The pit wasn’t very roomy in the first place. Deep, but not all that wide; the giant boar was stuck head-first in the hole, with his backside upended, legs pinned tightly in the shaft.“Surrender!” Remian called down. “Acknowledge my claim as the Lord of this Fief, and we’ll free you!”Actually, looking at how the boar was stuck, Remian had to wonder if it was even possible to get the boar out of there.[Never!] Daring Drum roared. [How dare you treat me as a common pig, to give in to the whims of humans! You…!]The tirade went on for quite a while, with very colorful language (for a Wild, anyway) echoing around the pit

The day arrived when Charlie’s Roving Albatross was repaired… or at least, repaired enough to fly around.“It’s holding together with patches and jellyfish-glue, but it should get as far as Fal’Herim.” Arnold pointed. “The whole fuel conversion system is gone for good, but if you power it manually, you should be able to get it to move. I wouldn’t push it, though, so go easy on the throttle. Stay below the halfway point and you should be able to avoid a breakdown.”“Right. Let’s go pick up the adventuring team.” Mindy turned to Tim. “Are you guys ready?”Tim glanced over his band of merry lynxmice and nodded. “Ready!”Remian, Mindy and Tim got on the airship with Vigil and a squad of lynxmice. Remian invited Carrie to join them, but the moment he did, she had her claws out dug deep into the ground and absolutely refused to get on board. Candice and Denise joine

Shame. Mandy felt it weighing down on her like a wet blanket. Again and again, she was haunted by a memory of her reaction to Mindy’s excitement. The very idea of returning to the Frontier, of facing another Beast Wave… just thinking about it made her bones hurt, as if they remembered being broken. She felt vulnerable. So very vulnerable. But to reveal her fear and vulnerability to Mindy, of all people! How could she face her younger sister any more? No! She had to regain her senses, regain control! She had to be the older sister and protect Mindy! And Mandy already knew the best way to protect that excitable younger sister of hers; simply take her away from danger. Didn’t she see how the other kids here thrived? Didn’t she see how safe and happy they were? They were running around without fear! They were wearing clean clothes, gaining weight, and nobody needed bandages or plasters every day! She could have that too; Mandy was willing to work for the Meadows Household in whatever c

While Remian and the High Rock clan celebrated the literal downfall of Spike, Lydia and Phoebe were settling in. First off, it should be mentioned that Marcus ended up becoming Phoebe’s first patient. Phoebe was a Life Mage of the Third Circle. Like her sister Lydia, who was of the Fourth Circle, her training was in medical work. While Lydia was a surgeon who specialized in emancipation, however, Phoebe was a Paramedic. Upon seeing an accident resulting in severe blunt force trauma taking place right before her very eyes, Phoebe’s first instinct was to stabilize the injured and haul them safely to the nearest medical facility. A few quick questions to Mindy assured her that the local equivalent to a medical center was the church in town. In other words, after seeing Max drop the crate on Marcus’ foot, Phoebe immediately went over, bandaged up the foot, and had the guys nearby haul Marcus to the church, regardless of his protests. It was around that time that Mindy went to join Remia

“Well… there go two trees.” George observed as the Feelo-wasps riddled them with holes and turned them into hives. “At least we get honey.” That was the agreement Remian reached with Bzziezuo, queen of the Feelo-wasps. BZ was newly coronated, and her swarm was actually considered small and weak; given the abundance of flowering plants in the vicinity, she felt this would be an ideal spot to settle down… as long as the Fief’s Lord gave permission. Also, if the Fire Hornets kicked up a fuss, he was supposed to help her swarm against them. Remian wasn’t entirely sure that was a good idea, but Carrie said that was no problem. Buff alone was more than enough for that sort of mess. Apparently the fourth-tier bear had innate defenses that made him the absolute trump card against bee-type Wilds. The agreement made with BZ got Remian thinking. He pondered; he consulted Carrie; he discussed with Buff; he spoke with DD; he even had a word with Spike. Afterward, these fo