Dorog
Bein' chased through a swamp assorts ain't mah fav'rit hobby, but it does make fer some interestin' quest mah-tair-ee-el. In fact, this situation reminds meh o' the time I was battlin' a most-dangerous murda o' crows inna differen' swamp! They was aflyin' all aroun' an' aroun' meh! Now, ah had already lost mah-- Whaddya mean ah musta provoked 'em?! 'course not! All ah did was walk through a pile o' dead twigs an' such. Weel, there was some sorta goo on mah feet after that, but 'twasn't a nest, no siree! Dorog the fluff-- ah mean mighta, would neva harm anotha livin' creature withou' cause! Neva! Now, where was ah? Awwwwwww! Ye made meh lose mah train o' thought! Somethin' 'bout crows…
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After the brief encounter with the something of the swamp, it was quite relaxing to catch a breather. Dorog did his best to find the driest, least loamy spot he could to sit down. But unfortunately, there was nothing within the chain's length. So, the hamster plopped himself down right where he was; straight into a shallow puddle of mud. But, seeing as how he was too tired to get up, Dorog just stayed there. Lallily, or 'Veggie' as he liked to call her, had said something about getting the shackles off, but Dorog didn't care at this point. He was already composing various ballads about the mysterious encounter earlier, though none of them seemed to 'work.' There wasn't any way to leave the slavers out of the story. His ballads from just two weeks ago had already been ruined by the beast. If Dorog wasn't the hero, there was no point in composing a ballad! See, when a mysterious beast scares away all of the villains and leaves Dorog to run for his life, it's more degrading than anything else to write a ballad about THAT. But the encounter would spawn some interesting (and completely false) tales later. The ballad material was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Perhaps the slavers could be salvaged into some other ballad at a later time.
"Well, any ideas at all, fellas?" Veggie seemed quite intent on getting free. With a sigh, Dorog resigned himself to helping her. His ballads would have to wait until later in the day. Swiveling his chubby face all around, Dorog succinctly summarized the most notable sights within view.
"Weel, let's see what we 'ave to work with. Hmmmm… swamp to the right, swamp to the left, a big ol' rock blockin' mah view ahead, swamp an' a monster to the rear, an' this foul stench all aroun' us." Coming from Dorog, that meant a lot. Usually being the worst smelling beast for miles had left his nose virtually dead. If a stench could get through THAT impregnable barrier of numbness, it had to be bad. "Ah believe that we may 'ave to find our way outta 'ere first. Ah sure don' see any way to get these things off afore then!" Dorog rubbed the shackles to emphasize his point. The chain links clinked and the metal band moved a bit, quite loosely in fact, around Dorog's tiny, furry ankles. "Ah don't suppose that either o' you two remember the way outta here?" Dorog looked at Jick especially. With Veggie being old and Dorog being short, they had both been more following Jick during the escape.
