Guards! Guards!

It turns out that I didn't have too long to wallow in homesickness after dinner. As we headed back to the inn, the fair was slowing down for the night. Making our way through the crowd, the general shouts and cries turned to screams of terror. Being so short, I couldn't see much, but the mass of folks in front of us started pressing against us in a panic, trying to get away from whatever was causing those screams.
Of course no one but Grumble had their armor on, but when duty calls, you just have to answer. We began pressing our way through the frightened crowd, and I had just enough time to think "Well, it's a good thing I'm not a disaster at sewing, too..." before Audric leaned in and told me to put my arms around his neck. He grew up to the size of a regular human, taking me up with him. Hands down, that was one of the weirdest things I have ever experienced, but it was nice to be able to see what was going on, and to not have to worry about being trampled.
As we moved closer, I saw several wererats attacking guards and festival goers alike. There were also dire rats coming out of various nooks and crannies.
Audric set me down, and I was quite thankful I had tucked my kukri into my boot before leaving. I tried my best to be helpful, but without a silver weapon., how much damage can one do to a were-anything? I got bit and stabbed, and by the time we had killed or chased off everything, my poor kirtle was in sad shape. Oh well. There's a reason I don't own nice clothing. Nialia promised to cast a repairing spell on it later, so hopefully that works.
At least we were able to stop the rats from killing anyone else. However, we almost got into trouble with the city. The wererats turned back into their human form when they died, and the guards were suspicious of us, having our weapons drawn and being at the center of the commotion. As it turns out, there were two other attacks like ours in other locations, and after a talk with Lieutenant Shella, we were cleared, and told we no longer needed to have our weapons peacebonded.
After that, we finally made it back to the inn. I was hoping for a little peace and quiet, but it was so crowded in there, and it didn't take long for word to spread that we were the folks that had stood up to the rats. Of course there was a lot of fuss over us all. At the crowd's request, Rowan gave a pretty good retelling of our encounter, which seemed to satisfy them some. I just sat and felt embarrassed, wishing they could find something else to expend their energy on. When the hullabaloo finally died down, I pulled Audric up to our room. Since Rowan had run into her father's friend, I had had a nagging hope that maybe Malick, or Tom and Jon might have made their way down here for the fair. Audric asked me if I thought they could have made it down here since I saw them that night at Morwen's. Thinking about it, I felt really stupid for having said anything. Of course it wouldn't be possible, and they're all always so busy. I couldn't imagine why I had thought they might be here in the first place, other than homesickness giving my heart false hope.
Audric put his arms around me and asked if I wanted to try and find the gnomish community here in town. I told him no. All I wanted was to see my brothers. Seeing other gnomes that were complete strangers would probably just make it worse. After all, I have Audric, even though he's not actually a gnome, nor does he really know much about being one or anything...Ok, so that does make me a little sad. Still, I love him and being with him makes me feel better about things, and he looks like a gnome, so I can always pretend. Besides, I have my companions as well. It's not like I'm alone with strangers in this strange place. I should just try to put my family as far from my thoughts as I can for now, lest I find myself dangerously distracted from the tasks at hand.
Audric suggested we go to the library with Grumble, and try to learn what we can about the house of Bel. I had actually forgotten about that until he mentioned it, and it chilled me to remember. I suppose I really have been distracted as of late. For now, though, it's time for Audric and time for bed. Sleeping next to him feels like the greatest peace I have ever had.