Trollday, 5th day of the Jackal, Imperial Year 5,623
After a night of revelry at the Perilous Pit, the characters wake up at their rented rooms at the Sleeping Dog boarding house. Tully the Rat Hunter (NPC) is with them, having passed out on floor in Big Mac's room. Some of the characters are slightly hung over.
Harlack is still sick with Filth Fever, which he got after a Rat Man bit him (Keith failed his saving throw against the RTD- Rat Transmitted Disease. He used a Luck point for a re-roll, but that was also unsuccessful- he took more Con and Dex damage). Because he spent all his money on new armor and an axe to replace the ones ruined by a Gray Ooze, he can't afford a magical cure. Nor could the whole party even if they pooled all their money together.
Hob visits Ebbert's Outfitters and buys a hooded lantern. He also buys 10 flasks of oil to use against the rats, following Tully's instructions. After he returns, the party sets off to kill more rats in the sewers. They want to collect the rat tails for the bounty offered by the Ministry of Security.
A light rain falls as they walk through the shadowy streets of Glome. They turn up Tower Street and then pass the Sewer Worker's Guildhall on Midden Lane. They find a manhole and descend into the sewers.
Tully the Rat Hunter loads his pistol. He is also armed with a longsword and shortsword and half a dozen daggers. "Alright boys, it's time to nut up or shut up. Let's kill some god-damn rats!"
(Yeah, Tully is pretty much Tallahassee from Zombieland- except he hates giant rats instead of zombies).
The water level is higher, but the smell is just as bad in the main sewer passage. Tully covers his nose with a bandana. "You never get use to the smell."
Hob lights a lantern and hands it to his henchman, Orlan. Zed also casts a Torch cantrip and lights the end of his staff. Except for distant water rushing and the occasional splash of sewage, the sewers are quiet. The party's footfalls echo down the tunnel.
After crossing the sewage channel, they come to a partially collapsed section of the brick wall. On their first expedition, the party had cleared away the rubble and discovered a series of natural caverns beyond which housed the Rat Nest.
As Hayabusa and his retainers enter the slimy cave, they are immediately ambushed. Three Rat Men and four Giant Rats are waiting in the darkness. The rest of the party is still outside in the main sewer passage with Zed the Illusionist and Pots the Porter in the rear. Zed hears a splash behind him. Three more Rat Men who had snuck up from behind rise out of the nasty waters of the sewer channel!
One Rat Men lunches at Pots with a shortsword and disembowels the poor hunchback. The lowly retainer of Big Mac's dies as his guts spill out. Unfortunately, Pots was also carrying the party's 10 flasks of oil. Another Rat Man slashes at Zed and bites him in the arm (John failed his saving throw - another RTD infection!)
Tully fires his pistol and blows one of the Rat Men away. Harlack and Big Mac rush to Zed's defense in the rear. Harlack suffers a few minor wounds, but he and the halfling kill the Rat Men.
Meanwhile, Hayabusa and his retainers battle the Rat Men and Giant Rats inside the cave. Hayabusa chops off a Rat Man's head with his katana, and Sista Steel cracks a Giant Rat's skull with her flail. Yang stabs at another with a spear. However, the last two Giant Rats are vicious. One pounces on Sista Steel and tears her throat out. Another bites Yang in the leg and he bleeds to death.
The rest of the party comes to their aid and kill the remaining Giant Rats and Rat Men. But the price of victory is high as party lost three retainers- Sista Steel, Yang, and Pots.
Tully wipes the sweat off his brow. "Well that sucked! Looks like you boys stirred up the nest. They were expecting you. Next time we need to use flaming oil. Rats hate fire."
The party heads south retracing their path from the last exploration. Suddenly, Harlack hears a snap as a he breaks a tripwire, followed by a click and a whoosh of projectiles. Two crossbow bolts zoom out of the darkness. Thankfully, only one grazes him. "Looks like the Rat Men set traps as well!"
After the trap, Harlack pulls out his 10' pole and Hob moves to the front to help search for traps. They explore a side tunnel to the west and locate a secret door, which exits to the main sewer passage. Then the party heads south again and comes to the ragged curtain where they found the Rat Men's nest.
The party comes up with a plan. The Mantid Samurai Hayabusa volunteers to be the bait. He will lure the Rat Men and then run north to get them to chase him. With his natural leaping ability, Hayabusa will then jump over the area where the party will pour oil. The rest of the party will wait ready with torches and weapons and light up the oil as the Rats enter.
Hayabusa heads south alone using his infravision to see without a light source. The first nest is empty. However, he hears soft noises in the next chamber. He peeks beyond the curtain and sees a particularly large Rat Man with a pistol and another holding a crude grenade.
He goads them into chasing him and then flees. The two Rat Men and four more Giant Rats pursue. Hayabusa rushes past the two curtains and jumps nearly thirty feet over the patch of oil. As the rats burst past the curtain, Big Mac throws a torch and lights up the oil. Zed throws another flask of oil and the Rat Men and Giant Rats are caught in the blaze. Orlan impales the last with a spear as it tries to flee.
The plan worked to near perfection. Tully has a huge grin. "Now that's what I'm talking about! That's how you kill rats. Light the bastards up!"
They manage to salvage the Rat Men's pistol and crude bomb. They think the grenade holds some kind of poison gas.
The party searches the chambers beyond and find crude sleeping nests made of torn cloth and straw. They also find two barrels and several bulging sacks [DM's note: of course my immature players laughed at the description of bulging sacks]. Big Mac checks the barrels and find one with cheap ale. The other holds severed human limbs and meat. He is repulsed. The sacks, however, hold treasure: 3,000 cp, 230 sp, and silver ring worth 150 gp. They decide to leave the sacks for now so they aren't weighed down.
Up the tunnel, they hear someone moaning, as if in pain. In a small cave, they find a man chained to the wall. He is beaten and bruised and his tunic has a large blood stain. "No, please don't hurt me," he moans. After the party explains who they are, the prisoner says his name is Kaman, and that he is a member of the Butcher's Guild. He said he was waylaid on the streets at least a day ago and taken prisoner. He's heard terrible things down here- screams of other prisoners.
Hob points to the blood stained tunic and lifts it. Kaman has a nasty bite wound in his side. It is deep and filled with yellowish pus. The horrid smell from the infection almost makes everyone puke.
"That doesn't look good."
No comments:
Post a Comment