Iren's PbP - Prologue

[Irenaeus]

Upstairs at the Inn's common room.

Ostgar bursts back up the cellar stairs, looking frantic, shouting about needing candles immediately. Brenna, who was hovering anxiously near the cellar door in the common room, jumps at his sudden reappearance.  

Her first reaction is apprehension mixed with impatience: "What is it? What's happened down there? Are the others alright?" Seeing one of the supposed guards running out wouldn't inspire confidence. When Ostgar clarifies he needs more light, her practicality kicks in. "Candles? Gods' mercy, yes, light!" She'd turns quickly to the bar counter where she keeps household supplies, grabbing a handful of rough tallow candles. She thrusts them at Ostgar, perhaps saying, "Here, take these! Quickly now! Are there truly so many?" There is a hint of exasperation, but her overriding concern is getting the rat problem solved, so she provides the requested items, urging the hero to get back down and help finish the job.

Earlier, Brenna had been approached by Da Great Green Prophet with a begging bowl. He had been ignoring the crisis and instead pestering her and her elderly husband Olwin, who was seating nearby, for money. She had had have little patience for a beggar at that moment, but his bizarre masked visage haunts her. Still, she just gesture towards the cellar door impatiently and say, "Want coin? Help them clear my cellar like honest folk!"

[Oyster Sauce]

Ostgar hurries back down to the ruckus, desperate to contribute just enough so that nobody could insist he didn't deserve payment. "You! Help me get these lit!" he cries at Alfwine. He tries to set each one somewhere high and close to the other men, on top of barrels, shelves, or nooks in the stone wall. "Toss any unlit candles back my way!".

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Gunthard examines himself and those nearby him, wondering if he had accidentally cleaved a comrade.

[Stack of Turtles]

Grateful for the opportunity to do something that isn't be eaten by a rat, Alfwine sets to helping Ostgar with the candles, likely setting a mistaken impression of his relative level of helpful obedience that may persist for weeks.

[maidenhaver]

George bags three dead rats from the floor, in full retreat up the cellar stairs.

[SpellSword]

Stein's previous suspicions about this group had been abandoned. If this had been a trap they'd laid, then there'd have been no swarm of killer rats lying in wait. He calls out to George (@maidenhaver) as the man makes his way past heading for the cellar stairs with his bagged rats "Nice work, Sir! There's something big lurking in the dark there. Keep your guard up."

While trying to keep track of the red eyed figure, Stein Von Steiner produces his flint and starts trying to relight nearby candles and any other torch he can find in the cellar. Hearing Osgar Saustian (@Oyster Sauce), he knows that he is not alone in this rekindling endeavor and tries to assist him and Alfwine Hengstsson (@Stack of Turtles).

[ERYFKRAD]

Being careful not to lose track of the large figure, Stein turns his head slightly and calls out to the warrior (Hrod Lastson @ERYFKRAD) that was speaking of taking torches from the inn's hall. "If you gathered a torch, light it on what candles we have still burning before darkness takes us!"

Hrod chuckles lightly. "Had I more hands I would have a light to better cut these rats!"
As he sees the lights and candles being brought in he moves to stay with visible range."Regroup in the light friends, that we see what to do next."

[Lord of Riva]

Wolfgang thus far not overly bothered by the light, even though losing the one candle by being eaten was weird, turns around to Ostgar: "Let me help" grabbing a candle (if Ostgar allows) and lighting candles with his tools.

If enough candles are lit, wolfgang tries to ensure that they are reached around to the others so that optimally everyone who wants something to light the way has a tool to do it.

[DemoGraph]

Felix grabs the lit candle. And then checks whether there's a crate or barrel too large for rats to climb on.
If he does, he jumps on top of it and looks into the darkness.
If not, he stays behind the folks.

[Humbaba]

Zollo wipes his knife clean on his trousers, sheathes it and fastens the club back to his belt. Seeing the Flatlanders foolishly make themselves a bright target, the Manhunter retreats to a shadowy corner of the cellar, readies his bow, and nocks and arrow, separating himself from the group. As soon as any huge rat would pounce from out the darkness and at the huddled mass of torches, Zollo would fire an arrow straight at the giant beast's heart.

[maidenhaver]

"Here you are, old woman!" George greeted Brenna in a respectful tone, dropping the sack of rats on the floor "Three dead ratties! That's a quarter of them killed by one man in fourteen. My men can clean up the rest. They're decent ratters." He didn't know any of these nob ends, but why explain himself to strangers? "In the mean time, I'll take a bowl of onion soup and you can show me to a room."

[logincrash]

Norman readies his staff and covers the lads lighting the candles, in case anything else jumps out from the dark.

"How big is this cellar?" he mutters.

[TKVNC]

Tillomar tucks his axe back into his belt shaking his head in disappointment.

"Now we've got some light, perhaps I can actually see what I'm doing now..."

He takes his bow from over his shoulders and grips it with his uninjured hand.

He signals to his dog to heel, and it sits lazily by his legs.

[Lord of Riva]

After it seems everyone, who wants it has a candle Wolfgang exclaims "Is everyone ready to check out the rest of the basement then? I would prefer if one of the good men that are geared up for close combat could take the lead" pointing to Steiner he exclaims "I have heard your warning, let's be cautious." he makes a few steps foward and gestures the other men to move but not moving out from them.

[Humbaba]

"Right behind thee",Zollo replies to the red robe on legs.

Zollo remains crouched in his shadowy corner, waiting for anything to jump out at the Flatlanders.

[Kalarion]

Kal takes a moment to catch his breath, looking around what can be seen of the cellar. "This... something doesn't seem right here. How did they get into this cellar? And so many? I need to think about this for a bit."

Kal backs away from the old front line for a moment and lowers his head, closing his eyes, mumbling quietly to himself. "You saved me to serve. I've wandered trying to find you, help me now! What's going on here? Guide me, and let me help these goodfolk and the innkeepers."

► OOC Action Description

Casting Detect Evil.

Description: This spell allows the caster to detect evil; specifically, the caster can detect creatures with evil intentions, magic items with evil enchantments, undead, sinkholes of evil, and summoned creatures of Chaotic alignment. Note that normal characters, even if Chaotic, are not detected by this spell unless they have actively evil intentions against the caster. Poisons, physical traps, and natural animals are neither good nor evil, so they are not detected by this spell. The caster sees the evil creatures or objects with a definite red glow around them, but the glow cannot be seen by anyone else.

[Humbaba]

Zollo hears the Flatlander's prayer to his false god and spits on the floor.

[Irenaeus]

The Big One

The immediate threat is gone, but the cellar is dark, lit only by dying candles. Stein has spotted a larger, menacing shape with red eyes lurking at the back. The party is shifts to cautious investigation and preparation.

Felix grabs one of the newly lit candles and seeks a higher vantage point to get a better look into the darkness. He finds a tall crate to the side and still behind the main group, trying to spot the new threat.

George is actively leaving the cellar, carrying a bag of three dead rats as proof of work. As he passes Stein, he receives a warning about the larger threat lurking deeper within. He proceeds upstairs to present the rats to Brenna and request food and lodging.

Gunthard, taking a moment after the chaos, seems to be checking himself and nearby allies, perhaps ensuring no friendly fire occurred during the wild swings of the previous rounds.

Stein, having confirmed that this wasn't an ambush, acts on his observation. He calls out the warning to George as he leaves, then produces his own flint and steel to start relighting any nearby extinguished candles or seeking a torch. He coordinates with Ostgar and Alfwine's efforts to improve the lighting, while still trying to keep an eye on the red-eyed figure.

Hrod responds to Stein's earlier comment about torches with a chuckle. Seeing the efforts to relight candles, he advocates for the group to consolidate in the newly lit area to assess the situation together before proceeding.

Norman, catching his breath after killing that rat, is assessing the situation, and readying his staff and pondering on the size of the cellar, now that the new light reveals more. He helps guard the main group.

Zollo, adopts a radically different tactic. He cleans his knife, stows his weapons, and retreats into a shadowy corner away from the others who are gathering light. He readies his bow, preparing to ambush whatever emerges to attack the main group.

Tillomar, acknowledging his injury prevents effective axe use, puts the axe away and draws his bow, preparing for ranged combat with the improvement in lighting. He keeps his dog close and sitting defensively.

Kal Arion voices unease about the facts of their situation - how the rats got in, their numbers - and steps back slightly. He then closes his eyes and casts Detect Evil, praying for guidance while scanning the cellar with his divine sense. Zollo openly expresses disdain for Kal's prayer.

Ostgar and Alfwine are on the stairs, with Ostgar having just received fresh candles from Brenna upstairs.

Ostgar hurries back down the stairs with the fresh candles Brenna gave him. He immediately directs Alfwine to help him light them and place them strategically high up on barrels or shelves near the main group to improve overall visibility. Alfwine readily assists him with lighting and placing the candles, perhaps overly eager to have a non-combat task and appear helpful.

Wolfgang offers practical help to Ostgar and Alfwine with lighting the candles, using his own tools. He then voices caution, acknowledging Stein's warning and suggesting the melee fighters take the lead once visibility improves. He takes cautious steps forward but waits for the group.

Multiple characters (Ostgar, Alfwine, Stein, Wolfgang) are actively working to restore and improve the lighting in the cellar, recognizing it as critical. Stein has successfully alerted others (George, Hrod implicitly via his call, Wolfgang) to the presence of a larger threat lurking in the darkness.
Key actions are aimed at understanding the situation better: Stein trying to visually identify the threat, Norman covers the lads lighting the candles with his readied staff, Kal Arion casting Detect Evil, Hrod suggesting regrouping to assess.

The adventurers are adapting and making tactical adjustments: Tillomar switching to bow due to injury, Zollo moving to an ambush position, Wolfgang suggesting a cautious advance order.

Working quickly under the tense anticipation, the party manages to light several of the new tallow sticks, placing them high on barrels and crates, wedging them into wall niches, or holding them aloft. The effect is gradual and relieving, though perhaps not entirely comforting. The oppressive gloom recedes noticeably. The flickering, combined light pushes back the deepest shadows, revealing the full extent of the large cellar.

You can now clearly see the back wall – damp stone like the rest, stained and showing signs of older brickwork beneath crumbling plaster in places. The carnage from the swarm fight is starkly visible: smears of blood and a dozen dead rats litter the earthen floor amidst the scattered supplies.

And now, illuminated by the combined candlelight, the figure Stein spotted is revealed in detail. It is indeed a rat, but one swollen to grotesque proportions, easily the size of a small pig. Its grey-brown fur is patchy and matted, revealing rippling, unnatural-looking muscle beneath scarred skin. Filthy claws, thick as daggers, scrabble slightly on the packed earth, and saliva drips from yellowed incisors longer than a man's thumb. Its eyes glow with a crimson light, fixing on the group with a cold stare. It remains poised near the back wall, seeming to watch your preparations.

Surrounding this monstrous patriarch (or matriarch?) of vermin are four other rats – themselves large, though not as nearly gigantic as the central figure. They stand unnervingly still, heads low, eyes glassy and unfocused, seemingly held in a trance-like state, like puppets waiting for their strings to be pulled. They twitch occasionally but make no move towards the adventurers.

At that moment, Kal Arion, who had stepped back to focus his senses, completes his prayer, casting Detect Evil. An almost physical wave of nausea washes over him as his divine sense reaches out. The pig-sized rat radiates a palpable aura of Evil, shot through with tendrils of raw Chaos. The four smaller rats surrounding it also pulse faintly with the same unnatural energy, confirming they are tainted. Kal perceives clearly that this evil is not natural to the creatures; it feels like an invasive force, something that has warped and mutated them, driving their unnatural size and aggression.

Most disturbingly, Kal senses that the true source of this dark, evil, chaotic energy emanates from behind the monstrous rat, perhaps from a hidden recess, a crack in the back wall, something buried beneath the floor in that area, who knows what. The source itself remains obscured to his senses, but its corrupting influence on the rats is undeniable.

The cellar is now better lit, but the revealed truth is worse than the simple darkness was. A monstrous, mutated rat, empowered by an unseen source of evil and flanked by enthralled minions, now stands revealed as the likely heart of the infestation. It watches you, red eyes gleaming, seemingly ready for the next move.

What will the adventurers do, particularly characters like Felix (spot from behind), Zollo (in ambush), Tillomar (with bow), Stein (having warned others), Hrod (regrouped), Wolfgang (ready to advance), Gunthard (assessed situation), and Norman (guarding the main group) now that the main threat is revealed.

The Big One has AC 2 and the rest of the rats AC 1. No lighting penalty anymore.

[Irenaeus]

Upstairs at the Inn's common room.

George strides back into the common room of The Mountain's Last Light, leaving the chaos of the cellar behind him. He approaches Brenna, who is still near the bar, looking anxiously towards the cellar door after Ostgar hurried back down with the candles.

With a grunt, George hefts the rough sack and drops it unceremoniously onto the wooden floor near her feet. The dull thud is accompanied by the distinct smell of dead rodent, adding to the lingering tension in the air. "Here you are, old woman!" he declares, perhaps a bit too loudly, gesturing at the sack. "Three dead ratties! That's a quarter of them killed by one man...".  

Brenna recoils, first at the sack hitting her clean floor, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the sight and smell. "Gods' mercy, man! Not... not right there!" she stammers, gesturing vaguely for him to move it. But then her eyes fix on the sack, and a flicker of relief crosses her weary features. Dead rats. Proof that progress is being made below. "Three... dead?" she confirms, peering cautiously at the lumpy sack. "Good. Good riddance."

However, in George's next words, he dismisses his companions. "My men can clean up the rest. They're decent ratters." and immediately demands "In the mean time, I'll take a bowl of onion soup and you can show me to a room." Her brow furrows. She hired a large group, not just one man and his supposed underlings. And Ostgar just ran up asking for more candles – suggesting the job wasn't finished.  

She draws herself up slightly, her practical, overworked nature taking over. "Soup, yes, there's soup on the hearth, help yourself to a bowl if you must," she says, her tone light and with warmth. "A room? You – all of you – will have get a big room and the rest of your payment when my cellar is cleared. Properly cleared. Are the others... is it finished down there? That lad Ostgar just took down more candles..."

Her expression is a mixture of lingering disgust at the rats on her floor and weariness from the whole ordeal. She wants the job done, fully, before handing out rewards beyond basic sustenance.

[ERYFKRAD]

"Is it not said a cornered rat is most dangerous? Then let us draw it out in the open space!"
And with that Hrod readies to throw a spare lit candle at the rats to spook them.

[logincrash]

Norman wonders aloud "Why are they so still? Did the other rats not attack us as soon as we stepped in? Is there something else at play here?"

[Lord of Riva]

Wolfgang nods toward Norman "That Vile beast does not seem to be an ordinary rat, it looks outright intelligent, we will have to investigate once it is slain." he readies his sling, makes sure that he is not in the front and says calmly "Let's not wait for it to attack us, get ready!" and looses a stone via his sling aimed at one of the smaller rats.

Another hit, the rat reacts with a shriek before collapsing.

[Humbaba]

Out of the dark, Zollo fires an arrow at the big rat!

As he is about to let loose, a vicious itch manifests on Zollo's nose, disrupting his aim and forcing him to miss.

[Kalarion]

Kal stumbles back a step, eyes widening in shock. "Be careful, everyone! Something made these rats, they're none of them normal. I think... I think it's in here somewhere? Behind that... that thing." Kal feels a little foolish exclaiming at the unnatural abominations - anyone with eyes can see these aren't ordinary rats. But that aura!

Recovering his equilibrium, Kal steps back to the front line, hefting his club. Having felt the vile, corrupted nature of these beasts, there is no question of his leaving this fight.

[TKVNC]

Tillomar furrows his brow slightly as the cellar is illuminated, revealing a larger rat than he has ever seen before...

"Now that's a big rat... Well - all the better as a target!" he remarks, and nocks an arrow against his bow string, getting ready to draw back...

His dog seems uneasy, but willing to do as its master commands.

Tillomar draws back his bow, his hand injury barely impacting the motion, and looses an arrow...

Tillomar's eyes narrow as he calmly releases an arrow from his bow - his dog sits up alert as the whistle of the string cuts through the quiet...

His arrow finds its mark - landing straight in the side of the huge rats head, burying itself deep into its cheek and toward its neck for 6 damage

[DemoGraph]

Felix to people in melee: Men! Find a big barrel or two you could roll before you and on top of that rat. Even if it evades, it will at least provide you with a partial cover.
[GM consent needed. Is there a barrel large enough but not too large?]

[Edit. Ok, we probably won't need the barrel, because the rat got its mind blown.]

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Gunthard nods and begins searching for a large object or piece of furniture that can be moved over the rat. The sound of an arrow flies past. He turns and squints in the darkness trying to see what it hit.

[SpellSword]

Stein Von Steiner exclaims "Is that beast really a rat?!" as the enormity of the horrific pig-sized rat is revealed by the increased illumination. Having finished relighting the candles Stein stows his flint and quickly moves to take up a defensive position by Wolfgang Von Schwarzscheid. (@Lord of Riva)

"Be careful, everyone! Something made these rats, they're none of them normal. I think... I think it's in here somewhere? Behind that... that thing."

As Kal Arion's (@Kalarion) warning rings out, Stein's grip tightens on his Rusty Bronze Sword. Not fully comprehending the cleric's words he mutters "There's more?" while glancing around the rats. Whatever this 'Something' was behind the huge rat, he couldn't see it.

Watching the rats carefully for movement, Stein prepares to strike at the oversized vermin if any of them charge.

► Out-of-Character

I'm rolling the To Hit 1d20 preemptively for my attack. It should only happen if the rats charge out and attack. If all of the rats charge then Stein's target priority is The Big One. Otherwise whatever smaller rat comes into range gets swung at instead.

[maidenhaver]

Of course the old bat fusses, walking back in from dumping the ratsack, its the only inn for leagues, but travelers are more frequent of late, and to an old woman the pace must be unsettling. George turns a glance to the wood-face beggar, before joining those huddled close around the fire pit. As he dips a bowl into a common stock pot, the muffled ruckus below stirs a few faces, but none seem as bothered as they are tired. Unbothered besides, George adjusts his gear and sits himself at a quiet stool, opposite the cellar way.

[Oyster Sauce]

Ostgar takes a defensive position a few steps behind the others staring the rat down, ready to poke at anything that gets too bitey.