In the year of 1349, the people of Pembroke, in now what is West Whales, there was a great party and feast going on. Everyone was merry and they thought that nothing could go wrong. In the middle of the mead hall at Pembroke Castle, which to the people, was larger than life, there meat roasting. The castle was amazing and had a great moat. The turrets were sharp. The knights and sires were dancing and singing along to the music of the instrumentalist. To them nothing could be more perfect.
Just a few days earlier, a ship had docked onto their shores with many things, including their worst nightmare. Europe had just developed relations with the far east. They would ship things in and out, like food, cloth, and other goods.
The good people of Pembroke went to the ship and unloaded the goods. One person, the great page to the Earl, Griffin Shamblestone, was assigned to make sure the goods, that were for the big celebration in a few nights, were delivered straight to the Earl and his castle and people. As he was watching were the goods went and how they got there, just in case something broke, he noticed that hundreds of rats were pouring out. And there were many more dead ones inside. He knew it was normal to see all of these rats coming over, but he did not really understand why there were more rats, dead and alive, than normal. But he had a job to do, so he just passed it off as nothing. He continued to do what he needed to do and brought stuff

to the mead hall for the Earl. The next day went on as usual and the day after that was the celebration.
That night was wonderful. Griffin had a jolly old time, dancing and eating the amazing feast that was laid out in front of him. But suddenly, someone was startled when they felt sick and all of a sudden fell over. They fainted right in front of the Earl and his friends and family. Every one was all of a sudden screaming and panicking, asking the stars “Why did this happen?”. No one knew why. Not even the woman’s husband who was sitting next to her. In the midst of all of the panicking, Griffin’s very intellectual mind started running. He couldn’t figure out if it was one case or if there will be more...
As the next day rolled around and the sun began to rise in Pembroke, and a messenger brought terrible news to the castle. The poor women that fainted at the party had died that night. And now, many people in the town are coming down with something. Griffin knew that everyone had similar symptoms, and was trying to figure out what was going on.
Before Griffin was appointed as a page to the Earl, he wanted to be a doctor. He studied the astrology for years and knew that that was the only thing for him. Even after he became one of the headmen in the Earl’s company, he still loved to help people and try remedy medical issues.
A few hours after hearing that the women at the party had died, Griffin was learning that many of the others that had the same symptoms were also at deaths door.
Since people of the castle knew that Griffin was a scholarly fellow, they invited him to take a look at the dead. What he noticed was different. The people had an odor that was unexplainable. And they had bumps all under the arms and legs. The lesions were large and pussy. Griffin knew what it was. He knew it was the rats. That day he was unloading the goods brought over from the far east, a few days before the first death, he noticed the dead rats, and curious, studied them. He came to the conclusion that the bumps that were on the rats and the odor that they gave off was the same as the people who had perished. Griffin knew that he didn’t need to consult the stars and the Gods for this case. It was right there.
But as Griffin thought about it, he realized that he was touching the rats and near everyone who had been infected. He lived in the same castle were it was all going on.
Griffin ran as fast as he could to tell the Earl that he had figured it out. But when he did, the Earl dismissed him and said that the other doctors have said it was something in the air and that the people from afar had gave it to them so that they could take their land.


Griffin tried to go around and tell as many people as he could not to go near the dead bodies, but like the Earl, they all ignored him, siding with the other doctors.
Once he had gotten to the other side of the town, warning people to stay away, it was too late. A few more people had come down with it. And he was about to also.
Just as Griffin was giving up on warning people, he decided to write it all down. He knew that someone someday was going to need to read what he had seen.
After writing it all down, he started to feel faint and tired. He realized that bumps started to accumulate under his arms and legs.