Pugmire: The Ten Castles of Houndton

Once again, we venture into the mythical lands of Pugmire. Here's last time, though this is a new adventure.

It's been some time since the Pioneers liberated the iron mine near Ellendonk from the treacherous Doberman family. There have been political rumblings from the Dobermans, but it hasn't directly impacted the characters. Peppa Papillon stayed up in that part of the kingdom to help manage the burgeoning pilgrimage site. Gelert Sausagedog has been carousing and telling stories about his exploits and letting people buy him drinks. Boomer Pitbull has been continue his fitness regimens, and Dire Newfoundland has acquired a set of heavy armor from the Pioneers. Petunia Pibble has helped Biva Affenpinscher to record all their adventures and keep the archives up to date.

On this particular day, the Pioneers all meet up at the Guild Hall for lunch, and Bivi tells them he has an interesting mission for them. Apparently around Houndton, an earthquake uncovered some ancient ruins. That by itself is interesting, but he mentions that there's an estate down there owned by one Max Pitbull, and asks if he's any relation to Boomer.

(As it happens, Max Pitbull and his estate were mentioned way back here.) 

The Pioneers make their preparations. Sausagedog hits the books and learns a little about Houndton. A group of Hound families tried to split off from Pugmire and form their own kingdom, and actually did manage for a while. There was economic and political strife between the two kingdoms (though never open conflict) for some years, but then Queen Carmella Papillon I made a deal with Cyrus Transylvania-Hound and Houndton became a protectorate of Pugmire. The ruler of Houndton took on the title of Lord Mayor, and thus is has been ever since. 

The area is known for stone mining, and ten families have built castles (of varying size) around Houndton. Those are: Transylvania, Beagle, Basset, Afghan, Bloodhound, Dachshund, Wolfhound, Foxhound, Greyhound, and Ridgeback. (There's a drinking song called "The Ten Castles of Houndton," with a verse for each one complete with hand motions. It's rare to get to the last verse, Ridgeback, because you're usually too drunk by then.)

The Pioneers set off, and the journey south is largely uneventful. Unlike the road north, this one is much better traveled, and they pass and are passed by wagons going to and from Pugmire. A couple of days later, they arrive at a manor house surrounded by a short stone wall and closed off by an iron gate. The crest of House Pitbull adorns the wall. This, then, must be Max Pitbull's estate.

The Pioneers decide they have to call, so they ring the bell. A door opens a moment later, and a large, muscular dog emerges. He immediately lights up upon seeing Boomer, and introduces himself as Harley Pitbull. The Pioneers introduce themselves, and Harley lets them in - they were just about to have dinner!

Harley shows them in and has them leave their weapons and armor in the cloakroom. They note that there are several sets of armor already there, with little plaques indicating who they belong to: Harley, Davidson, Rizza, and Rumble. An ornate set of armor has the place of honor in the room. It's polished and well-kept, but hasn't been used in a while. Its plaque says "Lord Max." 

The dogs enter a dining room with a long table that would easily seat thirty, but at present, only five dogs sit around it. The one sitting at the head of the table is old, gray of fur, and wearing fancy robes. This must be Max Pitbull. The others sit around him, and the characters join, just as a group of rats bring out trays of food - whole turkeys, a big slab of beef, and a big tray of greens (pit bulls, as anyone who owns one can tell you, are omnivores and love them some plants). 

The party eats heartily. Dire and Boomer both pack away food and are delighted to see it get replaced; the rats bring more turkey. The Pioneers relate some of their adventures and discover that Max is something of a bigot; he's disgusted to hear the Boomer was ever in the Monarchies, but when he hears he was transporting a prisoner he softens to that some. Hearing about the mines and the Dobermans, he laughs and says that the Dobermans once tried to control stone mining here, but they were sent packing by the Hounds. 

The Pioneers also learn that when a new hound becomes Lord Mayor, their castle becomes the political and economic seat of Houndton. That was what ruined the Transylvania family - their castle is up in the mountains and they tried to build a road up there and wound up bankrupting the family. Now no one lives in the castle, and there are spook stories of monsters and ghosts. Max says that sometimes Pioneers have gone up, but never returned (but then, they weren't Pitbulls). 

They ask about the earthquake. None of the Pitbulls saw it, but one of them remembers that supposedly a dog named Arrowak Foxhound did. They've never heard of an earthquake here before, but who knows. 

Peppa eventually has enough of this guy and goes to the kitchen to talk to the rats. They initially freeze when she walks in, but after talking to them a bit they realize they've heard of Sister Peppa - they've heard from rats in Pugmire that she's a Good Dog. Sausagedog leaves the table to snoop, but gets turned around and winds up back in the dining hall. The Pitbulls don't seem to mind much, though.

Peppa learns that the dogs who stay here are Max's grandsons, but he has sons and daughters of his own, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren and so on. Most of them live in Maxville, a town a little ways off. The rats tend the estate, raise the turkeys, farm the veggies, cook and clean and so forth, and live in a servant's quarters. Peppa goes back to the dinner, but decides to return and visit the rats later.

Harley offers the Pioneers lodging for the night and shows them to their rooms (they each get their own, which is novel). After they settle in, they come back downstairs for drinks, chats, and cards. Harley arm-wrestles both Boomer and Dire and handily beats them. Sausagedog finally does get to snoop, but doesn't find anything untoward - the place is clean and well-maintained, but the finery is all old. Peppa accompanies the rats out to their quarters and listens to the gossip a bit more. 

Turns out that a few grandsons stay with Max all the time, but they rotate out who's doing it. The wives and children stay in Maxville because although Max is obsessed with progeny, he doesn't actually like having pups around, and no one trusts him around the wives. He's also known to decide at a very young age whether a pup has "the eye of the warrior" - no girl ever does, and if there's actually something to it Max has never been able to explain it. The rats have heard rumors that, in years past, pups that didn't have this "eye" were either left to die or outright killed, but that hasn't happened in their memory. But Max fought in the War of Dogs and Cats, and he has been spreading his seed for decades. He has family from Ellendonk to Waterdog Port. 

The dogs stay up with the family for a while, and learn that Harley and Davidson share their father's bigotry (basically, only dogs are worth any time, and of dogs, only Pitbulls or other warriors - they seem to respect Dire more than Petunia, for instance). Rumble is a little more reasonable, and Rizza tells Petunia that he'll walk with the Pioneers to Maxville tomorrow since it's on the way to the earthquake site. He wants to see his kids, anyway.

The night passes uneventfully, except that Peppa gets a little drunk with the rats. In the morning, they all meet up before breakfast and share information. Sausagedog reports that it seems like Max is just an ordinary bigot, rather than a demon worshiper (how boring). Petunia opines that the Nagayaga could do worse than a decaying castle as a hideout, and the Pioneers decide they'll definitely need to investigate. First, though, the earthquake site. 

They have breakfast with the Pitbulls, and then the Pioneers strike out west with Rizza. He's a little more forthright than his cousins, and tells the Pioneers that yes, there was a time when young pups that lacked the "eye of the warrior" were killed in infancy, but that's been years ago. They ask who stands to inherit all this, and Rizza says that when Max finally dies it's going to be a bloodbath - he's never named an heir, and there are literally hundreds of dogs with a claim to the estate. He's not going to bother, though, he's going to take his family and go to Pugmire. 

Boomer muses that he might be related, and Rizza asks who Boomer's mother was. Boomer doesn't know; he was abandoned and left with a family of Sheepdogs outside Pugmire. With that question hanging in the air, the dogs walk over a rise and see Maxville below! 

Rizza howls, and hears three returning howls, and beams. As they approach, three pups run up and hug him. He introduces them: his oldest daughter Jasmine, middle daughter Shale, and young boy Gizza. ("He's a genius," says Rizza proudly.) 

The dogs look around Maxville a bit, but everything seems pretty functional. There are Pitbulls of all ages, and no obvious signs of inbreeding so they're getting new blood from somewhere. They pick up a pack lunch and move on - Rizza tells them to keep walking toward Ridgeback Castle, and then past that towards Dachshund Castle; the ruins are between them.

They move along and see Ridgeback Castle, and have a quick yelled conversation with the guards on the ramparts. They pass that, and see Dachshund Castle in the distance (they ask Sausagedog whether there's any relation, and he insists that there's no relation between him and those stuck-up wieners).

And then they find the churned-up earth and walls sticking out of the ground! A Dachshund is peering into the area, and Petunia goes up and talks to her. She introduces herself as Tizzy Dachshund and is very polite. Petunia asks if they're on anyone's land - that is, do they need to ask anyone's permission to investigate? Tizzy says that if they're going to, the head of the Ridgeback family is a much more reasonable dog than her uncle, the head of the Dachshund family. But, as Dire points out, better to ask forgiveness than permission anyway.

The dogs see what looks like a window or door in a wall half-buried, and Boomer forges ahead...and promptly falls through a weak spot, plummeting into the ruined building below. He lands in what seems to be a cage, and immediately feels a profound sense of shame. He's a Bad Dog, because if he weren't, he wouldn't be in this cage. 

The others climb down (more carefully) and all feel the same sensation. Petunia sniffs for magic and finds nothing evil, but a deep, ancient power suffusing the place. It's bad magic, it's just not Unseen. Dire leans on the bars and they give way, and the dogs walk out into what seems to be a hallway, lined with more cages. They all feel that same sense of shame, of being Bad Dogs, and a deep feeling that if they're here, they will probably never leave.

"Is this a...prison for dogs?" wonders Boomer. Perhaps it is.