It had been an invention to revolutionize the world – an actual honest-to-god shrinking ray, something thought completely impossible and firmly relegated to science-fiction… but Markus had done it. The fact his motivation began and ended with using it to shrink down and coyly spy on his cheerful, chavvy neighbour would go unspoken when he would someday share this invention with the world.

But a future of fame and fortune had been quickly ripped from him by the loud thumps of a Scottish squirrel-man hopping through his window. After an awkward encounter which nearly resulted in him being crushed twice, Markus had found himself gently ‘kidnapped’ by the friendly squirrel by the name of Bruce.

From there Markus’ world had been shattered. Living underneath the streets of London unbeknownst to all was a thriving society of… rodents. Scavenging for supplies and avoiding ‘Gods’ wherever they could, these furry creatures had cobbled together a capital city – Rodentia. To say the sight of a God now significantly reduced in size and walking among them had caused something of a ‘stir’ would be putting it lightly – Markus had been lucky to keep his head. At the very least, his ‘kidnapper’ had stuck up for him, and even introduced him to some of his friends.

The most prominent of which had been a scrappy mouse by the name of Verm. After a tense introduction, Verm had slowly begun to tolerate Markus’ presence. Armed with a powerful ‘god-weapon’ (that Markus had decided against pointing out was just a small penknife…), the mouse was apparently one of the best fighters in Rodentia, having saved the city from the ‘Yellow God’ a few seasons back. In fact, part of the reason why Bruce had been poking his furry nose into Markus’ apartment had been in search of another ‘Yellow God’ sighted in the area that could pose a threat to the rodent city.

…it was then Markus finally twigged onto what a ‘Yellow God’ was, memories of sneaking a peek at his older neighbour Daniel arriving back from work in that mucky golden hazmat suit. A form-fitting bit of eye candy for Markus – and apparently the description of Death Incarnate for rodents. The furry, sentient beings had waged a war on exterminators… though the exterminators hadn’t even noticed.

He had tried his best to subtly dissuade this plan of action. Rodents were savvy – vicious even – when the situation called for it… but he had hung around Dan enough to know the fight would be turbo one-sided. The fact Verm had apparently defeated one such ‘Yellow God’ was miracle enough – but Daniel would wipe Verm out and forget about him just minutes later. Thankfully, the discussions of hunting down this new God had faded with the arrival of winter, where scavenging enough resources to survive the harsh season was the primary concern.

Which had led to this two-man journey back to Markus’ former home – a source of bountiful supplies, thanks to the emigree’s stocked larder… in addition to bits of old technology they could scavenge. Plaguemaster Aquila – an old rat who worked miracles with their inventions – had made the request themselves.

The plan had been simple. Easy – even. After all, they knew for a fact that the god-domain would be empty, given the ‘God’ in question was part of the scavenging trip. But in the eventful months of integrating into Rodentia, Markus had forgotten one important fact – one he would remember when him and Verm were stranded in the living room while dragging heavy supplies with them.

He had given Danny a spare key to his apartment. And what’s more… it was Game Day – the friendly neighbour had taken to enjoying the spectacle in the younger expat’s apartment with its bigger TV. A habit, it seemed, that hadn’t stopped with Markus’ disappearance.

Stuck out in the open, all they could do was stay as still as possible, praying that the Yellow God’s gaze would not settle upon them. For a terrifying hour, luck seemed to be on their side, the rowdy titan’s attention was fixed upon the blaring screen of colour… he would roar in incoherent ‘god-speech’ and rise to his feet at times – Markus even began to think they would escape unnoticed…

But then that familiar jingle played – and what doomed them was not an error on their part… but a simple commercial break. As if to mock their hour of hope, within seconds the God’s lazy gaze flicked down… before freezing… and then—

THOOOOM. THOOOOOM.

The godly rubber boots SLAMMED down, heels remaining firmly planted while the rest of the grimy footwear lifted up to reveal a thriving ecosystem forming within the treads – a collection of all the filth and dirt you might find from long days traipsing around hunting pests.

“Dan… Daniel! It’s me! Markus! Your neighb—”

” N O O O T G O O O N N N A R U U U N . . . ? ~ “

The deafening BLAST of god-speech pierced through them, neither having any idea what the Yellow God meant to convey… but the looming boot translated it well enough. They had been spotted. The God intended to… exterminate them.

Markus flinched at the thump of a paw next to him, followed by the unfurling of his rodent companion’s god-blade. Against any other foe, the human would be completely confident than he was about to witness a slaughter… but against this?

“You won’t be the first Yellow God I’ve slain… and not a chance in Hell you’ll be the last!” It was a noble attempt to muster up courage and strength – enough to even have Markus flex his fingers and let loose a barrage of flint-sharpened arrows, shooting free and zooming towards the mucky rubber treads as—

tink. tink. tink.

…they clattered harmlessly to the ground, the most well-aimed managing to sink into the filth thoroughly trampled into the boot sole as in reaction…

” H A A A H H H . . . H A A A A A H . . . “

As incomprehensible as god-speech was at this size, Markus could just barely make out the booming, divine laughter. He had heard it before after all… even if it felt like months ago, listening to Danny guffawing at his own awful jokes. It was a hell of a lot less endearing when said laughter was directed at tiny vermin completely and utterly at his mercy.

…and Markus knew all too well the fate of ‘vermin’ around a bored exterminator.

===

Done by  Flodrow who is as fantastic as ever – this was a co-commission me and  JordilianVector got :)

Small Saga turns one year old today – check it out here! JordilianVector invited me and a few other friends to watch him play through it when it came out and we had a blast! If the idea of playing an RPG game where you, a scrappy, angry mouse, hunt down the ‘Yellow God’ who took your tail sounds appealing, I highly recommend it!

...and if not, please at the very least watch the intro of the game. For a looong time now I’ve been desperate for a game to drop that explores the side of macro/micro that I’m really into, especially along the lines of Shrink High (an RPG Maker game from way back that has so much good macro/micro content and would be perfect if not for the fact it’s all giantess women). Small Saga wasn’t made to be that; however, the intro at least unintentionally taps into a lot of the elements I’m really into. It also helps that the plot focuses on a macro masked exterminator, a concept that was one of the very first macro ideas I read about and lives in my head rent free.

This little excerpt is a quick write-up I did that summarises a lot of long, extensive musings me and Jordilian have written up before – you can view here a commission JV grabbed of Markus and Bruce that takes place in the early days of this setting!