Session 40: I Smell A Rat... (1N) Expedition Members: Eirena Lightshadow Drake Darkwood Savas Al-Hadar Phage Gundle Oddlong Nubby Oddling As told by Savas Al-Hadar: "As always, my tale begins at the Cohort Arcanum... a crisp autumn day blessed by the sun. The cold winds blowing over Black Ice Bay a stark contrast to the warm dry breezes of my home. In a side room, a bit too far from the fireplace for my taste, I met my expedition companions to discuss the task at hand. I slowly sipped my chai as Eirena filled us in on the mission, a request by King Varri Haraldsson to deal with a plague of rat-like humanoids infesting Hollingholmen. Several Cohort parties had already made attempts to resolve the issue... they managed to contain the threat, but it was still present. We endured a long and cold ship voyage to the city... Nubby insisted on filling every waking moment with discussions on the wonders and uses of... potatoes. He incessantly discussed every variation of how to prepare and serve potatoes. Potato pies, potato pancakes, scalloped potatoes, potato salad, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato soup, potato stew, potato rolls, charred potatoes, potato sandwich, potato nuggets, potato hummus, roasted potatoes, potato cakes, potato galettes, smoked potatoes, potato quiche, hashed potatoes, potato croquettes... Just when we thought he was finally done talking about potatoes, he started in with the types of potatoes... Kiergard Gold Potatoes, Purple Pachalinn Potatoes, Auklund Russet Potatoes, Westwold Potatoes, Crimson Bliss Potatoes, Seamist Blue Potatoes, Djafra Gold Potatoes, Purple Rjurik Potatoes... Thankfully, we made landfall before he could finish opining on the benefits and qualities of each type. Upon our arrival, we immediately made our way to the halls of King Varri. They were amidst a grand feast... something I initially thought was a special occasion, but later came to realize was an every day occurrence. The King himself proved to be a rather hedonistic, self-centered, and rather aloof individual, more concerned about emptying his plate and wineglass than addressing the looming threat to his city. Hiring the cohort to deal with the issue so he didn't have to made more sense after meeting him. His wife appeared to be exasperated with him. I wondered if this was because of a recent change in behavior, or if the King had always been this way. After enjoying a night of feasting at the King's behest, we made our way into the sewers of the city, were the ratlings had been reported by previous Cohort expeditions. Taking a tunnel to the West, we were quickly set upon by humanoid rats wielding daggers. They came flying out of multiple rooms along the corridor. We made quick work of them, felling all but one who jumped into the dank slurry of the sewers and disappeared from sight. We headed back East briefly to explore a set of stairs. They led to a corridor lined with barracks... all empty, and the crates within long drained of their contents. A final short set of stairs led to a dias at the end of the hall. Again, empty crates littered the floor, as well as a table with several documents lying on it. Unable to read the missives, we began heading back West... but as the party got further away, Gundle touched the documents and they revealed itself to be a mimic lying in wait! The beast almost immediately enveloped Gundle's face with its pseudopod, trapping and choking him. The party attacked as I raced down the corridor to join the fray. I was able to strike the beast from a distance with my guiding bolt, and several others harmed it enough to free Grundle. Nubby immediately threw a sack over the appendage, and we finished the creature off without further complications. Continuing West, we found a set of stairs to the south that led into a larger room. We tried our best to quietly move down the stairs, but the jangling of my armor alerted the ratmen inside. It was a large barracks room containing almost a score of ratlings, weaker than the ones we had fought previously, but dangerous in their number. I bellowed out a prayer to Khindai as a prepared myself for battle. Nubby, Drake, Grundle and Phage immediately began to retreat up the stairs while Eirena and I got swarmed by the beasts. I summoned a spiritual scimitar to fight alongside me as Eirena used her sword and magic against them. Phage held her place on the stairs as Nubby, Drake and Grundel continued to retreat... cowards! Through the magic of Phage and Eirena, they were able to moderately damage a large number of them. With some of them marked by faerie fire, I was able to cut down multiple foes, slashing them with my kilij, and chopping them with my spiritual sword. I was a whirlwind as I blocked their strikes, and retaliated in turn. Eirena, a more stalwart companion and fighter than I originally anticipated, held her ground as we stood back to back against the horde. Some managed to slip by and attack Phage who did her best to hold them off, while Nubby, Drake and Grundle cowered in the back, only popping out long enough to strike from a safe distance and then disappear back into cover. It was then that Drake cast a magical darkness over Eirena and I. The witch could see through the darkness, though I could not. She pulled me towards the edge as I continued to strike and fell enemies even though I could not see. The darkness proved troublesome for the ratmen, who despite their keen senses, were not as successful as I in landing their blows. Though we were gaining the upper hand and it looked as if we would win the day, the others at the top of the stairs started calling out to retreat... reporting a large band of creatures coming from the West to join the fray. Slaying more of the lesser ratlings as we escaped the darkness, Eirena and I made our way up the stairs. Drake was on the northern side of the passage, over a makeshift bridge, while the rest of the party made their way along the southern path. Someone threw down oil and set it alight on the southern bank, but it failed to deter the rat creatures, who simply jumped into the sludge and climbed back up on the other side. Slaying a creature as I ran across the bridge, I joined Drake to engage more of the lesser ratlings in melee combat. We had finally cleared enough of them to start making their escape when a dozen or so of the larger ratlings arrived bearing chainmail and crossbows. We set about to flee, but as a group, the formation of ratmen targeted me, and I fell where I stood under a volley of blunted bolts. I saw the boots of Drake flee towards the East as my head hit the ground and everything went dark. I drifted in and out of consciousness... how long, I don't know. One moment there would be nothing, the next pain as rat creatures nibbled on my flesh. I remember seeing a horror... the Rat King himself, I guess. Some sort of golem made of rats, and sinew, and bone, swirling in a maelstrom of evil. He came daily, as far as I could remember. I fought back with every ounce of my being against the invasion of my body, but after a few days, my defenses were breached. I awoke in a cell, alone, restrained by rope. I started to struggle against the bindings when I heard someone approach. The door opened and the Rat King entered, attended by a pair of the ratlings. While the lesser creatures freed me from my bonds, the Rat King commanded me to rise. I went to rub my wrists where they had burned from the struggles with the rope only to see fur covered paws. I looked down and saw that I had been transformed into one of the very creatures I had been battling against... yet somehow, Khirdai be blessed, I had kept my wits. It was clear that the Rat King thought me fully transformed, and not wanting to give away my advantage, I went through the motions of following his commands. After surveying the work and approving of my new form, the Rat King commanded me to patrol the Western Halls. I nodded my head, collected my gear, and headed out. I managed to find a posting in an area by myself, and when the time was right, made my way back up to the surface, putting on my gloves and pulling my hood low over my face to hide my new visage. I found the group in a side room within the palace, the guards having let me past after recognizing my clothing and gear... praise Khirdai that they did not require me to lower my hood! Once safely in the room with the door shut, I revealed my plight. Eirena seemed genuinely happy to see me, with other members of the group seemingly more interested in relaxing and joining the King in his indulgences than immediately addressing the threat at large. While the party feasted and partied above, I went back down into the depths of the sewers, rejoining my post and serving along the ratlings. Every chance I got, I wandered the halls, mapping out the locations, taking note of where the Rat King traveled and where he was most vulnerable. Returning to the surface at the end of the week, I brought back the intelligence I had gathered. The ratmen had dug a tunnel out of the sewers, a tunnel that originated right in the Rat King's throne room. A passage to the south led to a guardroom about 200 feet away. The throne room was were the Rat King was the least guarded, and was the best place for us to strike. We sought, and gained, an audience with the Queen, who relayed to us
that there had been no recent changes in the King's demeanor or
behavior... this was just the man that he was. Several members of the
group tried to convince the Queen that we should create a distraction
while the King's Army dealt with the Rat King. I, on the other hand,
petitioned for the opposite. I suggested that we take him down quickly, or find a way to block/collapse the passages to the guardroom to give us more time to deal with the rat golem, but others started talking about collapsing the castle itself on top of the Rat King's head! Needless to say this option was not well received by the Queen, nor did we have any means of making it happen. In the end, it appeared that there was
likely no help coming from the local government. The conversation did not get us any closer to a final solution for the problem. The party returned to their feasting among the locals, while I returned again to the dank sewers to resume my post and avert suspicion of my true nature among the rats. My only hope is that the next band of adventurer's sent by the Cohort be of a more stout and braver stock than these... except Eirena. I hoped she would return to fight by my side at least one more time."