Untold Tales of Aldhaven - The Locals

[Rizban]

The Untold Tales of Aldhaven – The Locals

The Docks, a much maligned district, where life is cheap and death only slightly more expensive. A bustling center of trade during the day, a desolate and empty graveyard at night, few live here willingly. Few manage to live at all. It's a well known maxim in Aldhaven, "Do not go into the Docks at night!" The city proper lies on the south side of the river, surrounded by a great and strong city wall. The Docks, of course, are situated on the northern shore, with only a stone causeway connecting the two across the river. A small island in the middle hosts an independent fortress, the headquarters of the City Watch, and large gatehouses guard each end of the bridge.

Each of you find yourselves in The Red Rose, a tavern and "inn" that caters to the non-human dockworkers, who are in slightly less danger at the end of the work day than their human coworkers. The Red Rose is open 24 hours a day and typically only rents rooms by the hour.

An unseasonably cold rain drizzles outside, and the number of patrons in the Red Rose is few. A storm blew in overnight and through much of the morning. No ships have docked yet today, leaving little coin in the hands of dockworkers. A slow drip falls from the ceiling into a large pot on one end of the bar as the building creaks with every damp breeze. A few lamps dimly light the room, the dim sunlight unable to pierce the filth accumulated on the windows. The fireplace remains cold, the barkeep unwilling to waste firewood for so small a crowd.

A large insectoid sits staring into the ashy hearth, a warm, untasted mug of flat beer in one claw. Its vacant stare is occasionally interrupted by the restless movements of a lithe cat trying to get comfortable atop the stack of split logs nearby. A man with pallid skin sits in one corner, a black cloak pulled low over his face, his immaculate clothing and rigid posture a laughable trope, leading to his being ignored by the local beyond the occasional veiled snicker. Near the bar, the only human lays face down in a growing pool of his own spittle, snoring softly as a heavily inebriated, black-scaled lizardfolk regales him with tales of fights he's witnessed in the bar. Three hobgoblins with blue handprints tattooed on their faces mutter quietly at their own table, the broken remnants of a cheap meal between them.

The center of the room is dominated by a sunken fighting pit about 20 feet wide. Though only about 5 feet deep, the dark crimson stains in the mud at the bottom show that escaping it once inside is unlikely. A board with "rules" for fights is nailed to the wall next to a rope ladder dangling down into the pit. Two figures dressed in heavy, if tattered, cloaks sit almost motionless near the pit on the two nicest chairs in the place, each marked with a placard that reads "pit champion." What little can be seen of them reveals skin even more pale than the mysterious figure in the corner, and an aura of danger fills the air around them.

[Esprit15]

Tat-chta stares ahead, glancing between the fireplace and the cat. Scrawny, and owned by someone. Both unfortunate. They take a sip of the beer. The drink had begun to grow on them since adventuring with the Grove Wings. While they enjoyed the giddy feeling it created in them, the flavor was like what they imagined soggy grass in the spring tasted like. The rain ruined any plans of going out and looking for work. Well Cerenin, I came to the city. What the big deal was, I can't fricking tell. Seems like every other city in the world - crowded, noisy, and lacking in proper prey. He had been in town a few weeks after the elf had recommended looking into it. While the variety at first was interesting they had quickly grown bored with the areal, but didn't have quite enough interest in actually going back to meet with the party. Plus, they were on a job anyways, so there would be nobody there, and he had all be renounced the tribe by his absence. It was rather weird, being alone...

Bored and looking for a change of scenery, if only slightly, the Kreen stands up and sits by the pit, legs dangling, before taking another sip and reading the alleged rules. Maybe one of the hobgoblins was drunk enough or dumb enough to try to show off to his friends and pick a fight. The Kreen smiles to itself as they take another sip of their beer. "Tsk." Isn't there a way to make this with meat instead of grass?

[Quentinas]

Psypaw was bored , the rain blocked him in this Inn , and he is in the cat form because it was easier to being unnoticed , among these strange big races. But that Inn did not have anything where he could sit without a problem and the Inn , sadly, don't even have a temperature that he could like, the freplace was not lit so no fre. He has to move to stay warm and not fall asleep . His fur isn't enough it seems, at least not without a good fireplace, and the umidity of the rain is not good, as each cat he knows he hates the rain. There are some interesting customers in the Inn , like the big insectoid, or the pale man, or even the two champion of the Pit , so he could go to see each of them. He moves , jumping down from the stack of split logs where he is , licking his fur to remove the dust , he doesn't have a collar or a plate with his name . He goes toward the hobgoblins group curious to hear what they are saying, and maybe in the remnants of the meal there could be something good to eat, even if he doesn't need food or water for now. When he is at the hobgoblin table he sit near one of them and then says the normal thing for each cat. "Meow", even if he is not habituated at that, why the cats meows without talking?. But is not a problem because now he is blinking the eyes and pointing the head toward the meal while the ears are focused on each single rumor of the inn, each of them could be a source of amusement for the bored cat .

[Rizban]

Tat-chta takes a look at the rules for the fighting pit.


Pit Rules
1. No killin'. Ax-idents happen.
2. No callin' the guards.
3. No forfeits.
4. No cheatin'.

[FinnDarkblade]

Geras keeps his head down, trying to avoid drawing any attention and lamenting the poor fortune that led to him getting stuck in the Red Rose. He had arrived in town a couple weeks ago and had been attempting, with no luck, to find Liliana or anyone who knew her. His orders had been to wait for her return but he hadn't expected it would take this long. He had come down to the docks yesterday to find out if there had been any news of caravans returning from the Eastern trade roads and had been caught in the rain before he could return to the safer parts of the city. He had been forced to spend a miserable and relatively sleepless night in a drafty room that shook in the wind and dripped cold, dirty water from the ceiling right over the bed. Breakfast had been a poor affair as well but he'd eaten it anyways.
Now he sits slowly nursing a pint of ale and debating with himself whether he should offer to pay the innkeeper to light a fire. One the one hand, it could make the experience of waiting out the storm much less unpleasant and could maybe even earn him some goodwill from a few of the people in the common room. One the other hand, it could mark him as someone who had spare change to throw around and that could mean trouble. He wasn't overly worried about being in danger as he doubted any of the more aggressive looking patrons would have the abilities resist his magic or catch him if he decided to elude them but then he'd have to leave and he'd be out on the street in the rain with the same problem. At least here there was something resembling shelter and a wall behind his back.
He sighs and finishes off his beer, carrying the mug back up to the bar and signalling for a refill.
If I can't be comfortable I can at least try to take some of the edge off.

[Jopustopin]

Roland

The lone human, an overweight middle-aged fellow, slowly sits up and scans the room with confusion. Takes him a couple of seconds to focus his eyes. He looks at the lizardfolk who was talking to him and shakes his head slightly. He seems to come to finally and reaches for his empty mug. He motions towards the bar to his table companion and slowly gets up.

Leaning unsteadily on the bar, the sweaty man turns to Geras as he's signaling for a beer and says, "Aye friend. Mind fillin' me up too?"

[FinnDarkblade]

Roland

The lone human, an overweight middle-aged fellow, slowly sits up and scans the room with confusion. Takes him a couple of seconds to focus his eyes. He looks at the lizardfolk who was talking to him and shakes his head slightly. He seems to come to finally and reaches for his empty mug. He motions towards the bar to his table companion and slowly gets up.

Leaning unsteadily on the bar, the sweaty man turns to Geras as he's signaling for a beer and says, "Aye friend. Mind fillin' me up too?"

Geras turns to the suddenly awakened man and eyes him somewhat critically. He'd been unconscious only moments ago and looked like he might go back that way again any moment. He wondered how the man could possibly feel safe enough to drink himself into a stupor here. "Not at all friend, but are you sure you haven't had enough already?"

[Quentinas]

Someone moved in the inn and so Psypaw's attention focused on the one who moved, he has a mug with him , and he is caped, and he is strangely pale nothing like people he encountered until now, well there are many thing interesting for him , even the insect like guy that is near the pit is interesting , but somewhat disgusting so now he moves toward Geras an start to rub against his legs , searching attentions from him, and maybe some food, meowing and blinking his yellow eyes, he needed attention, he arrived here in cat form so he did not had time to transform in his tibbit form without provoking any suspects, and without wetting himself for the rain, so even the food and the water were the remnants of the other patrons. Then the human guy awake and ask to drink again , with Psypaw uncertain if drinking so much was good for that body . For Psypaw was not good so he paw the leg of the lone human and shake his head with the tail that move in sync as he was saying to don't drink again

[Jopustopin]

Roland

"Oy. I'm sure." The man says. He then looks down at the cat with some amusement before looking back up. "I'll take my time if you're concerned. My names Roland. I don't think I've seen you around here before. What brings you into this fine establishment."

[FinnDarkblade]

Geras reaches down absentmindedly to rub the cat's head after sitting in a bar stool and beginning to sip at his own drink. He gives the man a friendly nod.
"Geras Khul, and I've only been in town for a couple of weeks. I came South down the trade road to wait for someone who's supposed to meet me In Aldhaven. She's travelling East of here and it seems like she hasn't returned yet. I've been coming down to the docks somewhat often to see if she was with one of the caravans coming in and got caught in the weather last night."
He decided the man seemed harmless enough to try drawing some information from.
"How about you? Are you a local?"

[Rizban]

A massive man, some 8 foot tall, squeezes through the door from the kitchen back to the bar. He definitely has some ogre ancestry.

"Eh! Din' I cut you off, human?" he growls at Roland. "If you din' make sa much coin gettin' yur sorry tail kicked in the pit, I'd na let you stink up the place."

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/b1/3c/f7/b13cf7746e3b463190047e40289a093a.jpg

As you are talking with the barkeep, a somewhat crazed looked elderly woman armed with makeshift weapons kicks the front door open and shouts, "Adventurers! I need some adventurers for a quest! Any of you lazy lot around here?"

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/aa/c4/8a/aac48ae0d6a556c3f72e3411b47d0418.jpg

"Get outta here, ya loon! Ya knowin' ya not welcome round here, human! Skulks take ya! There no heroes in the Docks!" the barkeep yells back.

[Esprit15]

Tat-chta turns and watches the partial-ogre berate the drunkard. He didn't see why - the man wasn't causing any trouble. But perhaps there was a history. It didn't matter - when he saw that the large man wasn't going to cause harm, his thoughts returned to the drink.

As the woman bursts in and the barkeep begins shouting, Tat-chta stands up, placing his mug on the bar. He waves a hand at the barkeep as though to tell him to relax. After all, the day had been dull and dreary. Anything to take his mind off of the grey skies would be welcome. "Not a hero, human, but I know how to use the sharp end of a blade.

"Actually... What brings a human here, one as..." he looks at her makeshift weapon, and pauses to pick his words more carefully than he otherwise would, "unexpected as you?"

[FinnDarkblade]

Geras turns in surprise as the old woman barges through the door. She didn't seem quite sane and her manner of dress seemed to affirm that. Concerned at what could have led to an old woman being out and armed in poor weather he speaks up as well.
"I'm not particularly what you'd call an adventurer or a hero either Ma'am, but do you need help with something?"

[Quentinas]

He instictively purr when the Geras'hand rub his head and start to move around that hand, but when they talk , he start to meow, as he would like talk, with a series of "Meow" with different tone, as he would tell the story, with some of these sound more pleasant as he continues to purr, and stares the human who is drinking , and even if the question about being a local is not addressed to him he says no with the head , and with the tail. Then the innkeeper arrive, and he can't see him because he is too short, but when the elderly woman arrives he moves toward her sitting and raising the head, saying a convinced "Mew!" , but he listens even what they say, looking somewhat confused the big insect, as he had not totally understood what he is, but it seems he could be a fighter from what he was saying , and the questions they says are interesting even for him ,a way to fight the boredom maybe? Even if is raining outside

[Rizban]

"Fie on thee, bugman! I've lived here all of my life, and there isn't nobody what can run me out of my home! Isn't no darkness dark enough, no evil cruel enough. I've killed anyone who dared! Why, I.. I... was... I, um. What was I talking about?"

She seems momentarily confused, but in that moment of confusion, her eyes seem to have the clarity of sanity. Sadly, they glaze over again with seeming madness shortly after.

"Pah! Rats! That's right! Rats in the cellar! Who here is brave enough, courageous enough, and lazy enough to help?! Wait, no, not that last one. I need people who are unlazy enough to get up off their fat keisters and do some good, honest rat stomping! So, who wants a job?"

The barkeep harrumphs, "Ya be better if ya no listen to the ol' hag. Leave it be. Din' get involved and ya live longer. Is better that way. Come has 'nother pint."

"You keep out of this, boy. You're too much like your good-for-nothing father. How he ever won the heart of such a fine, upstanding ogress, I'll never know! Knitting circle was never the same after she married off, I'll you that!"

The barkeep is becoming visibly angry at this point and seems about ready to physically throw the woman out.

[Rizban]

Sense Motive: The woman appears to be a bit senile and confused but also seems to be completely earnest about her request. You sense mild confusion but no intentional deception.

[Esprit15]

Rats? On a brighter day, he would have scoffed and left such a job to novices. But, it was not a bright day, and there were no novices, at least that he could tell. "And what would the payment for these rats be?"

[Rizban]

"Why, I cooked up a whole slew of oatmeal cookies this morning. I'll even throw in a glass of nice, cold milk. Each."

[Esprit15]

Tat-chta stares at the woman blankly.
.
.
.

Screw it, wasn't doing anything else today, and a free meal is a free meal. "I've never had cold milk, you've got a deal."

[Rizban]

"Ah, good. Good. You see, I'd take care of them myself, but they carry rather sharp knives..."

[Esprit15]

"Rats with knives?" This was going to cost more than just a decent breakfast.

[Quentinas]

He listen the words between the innkeeper , the woman , and Tat cha while in the middle, licking one of his paw , and then after the woman says rats with knives his curiosity start to arise, so he goes toward the woman, meowing while sitting in front of her and meowing again , while moving the tail at rythm , he has choosed. He will follow that woman, even if the payment is not so good, but rats with knives are something new for him so is a good motivation to follow the woman . He observe the big insect that accepted to work for the woman. He meows in an happy way, so many curious thing, a big insect , rats with knives enough to tease a cat's curiosity. Then he observe the two men at the bar and says "Meow?" while moving his head toward the woman as he was inviting them to follow that woman

[Jopustopin]

Roland

Roland had been quiet while the attention turned away from him. Then with the bartender looking away, he quickly finished his pint. He watched the discussion for a bit then seemed to get angry at the end.

"Is that those were-rats again? Filthy degenerates." Roland lurches out of his stool. "C'mon let's go teach them boys a lesson. We'll get us them cookies allright or we're not the heroes of the docks."

Roland stands unsteady for a second.

[Rizban]

"Where rat?" she looks around in a panic before realizing there are not rats around.

"None of that now," she snaps at Roland. "It's bad enough without you getting all jumpy. Come along now."

She turns and walks out the door, without waiting to see if anyone follows.

She makes her way east through the Docks to the older section, built when the city was growing this direction, before things became as bad as they are. She approaches what appears to have once been a two story build, a small shop with a loft apartment above, now boarded up. She fumbles with a key for a minute, trying to unlock the front door, before giving up and just giving it a swift kick. The door bangs open, bounces off the wall, and slowly creaks closed again.

"Stairs are over yonder," she points as she enters the seemingly abandoned building. "I'm going to take a hot bath, soak the bunions."


The inside of the building has been mostly stripped bare. The windows are boarded up, inside and out, and what remains of the furniture is piled up against them. It's clear that, if the woman indeed lives here, she's fortified the building as best she can against something, likely whatever malevolent force lurks in the dark of night. She is human after all.

An obvious trap door in the floor behind the remnants of the shop's counter is obvious. A large barrel filled with water sits atop it, weighting it closed. It seems that this is the way she intends for you to head down.

[FinnDarkblade]

Geras frowns for a moment in consideration before gathering his will and focus. He mumbles quietly under his breath for a moment while still wrapped in his cloak. After a moment he speaks up to keep the old woman within range and gestures around the room.
"Pardon me ma'am, but if the rats are all in the cellar then why is the rest of the house boarded up? Is there something else that's worrying you as well?"

Roll Sleight of Hand to conceal spellcasting [roll0] and cast Detect Thoughts(60' cone, Will DC 15 or 16 for anyone who doesn't notice he cast the spell. I want to catch her in it just in case there's anything she's not telling us and then sweep the cone's aim through the house starting with the basement to see if anything is down there. The duration is Concentration up to 6 minutes.

[Rizban]

DM

"What are you, daft? All hell breaks loose when the sun sets. You should know that, child! The Gonnagetchas come out looking for blood. I've lived her for ... well, never you mind about that. A lady doesn't reveal her age," she preens a bit, straightening out the ruffles of her clothing, and stands a bit straighter. "But I've lived here most of my life, and no slimy, murderous nasty is gonna run me out of my home.

And close that fool door, you lout! Were you raised in a barn?!"

Time is about to pass, putting the first die into the Time Pool, assuming you let Geras spend the minutes thoroughly searching the building. You can each do something during that time.

Do note that Action Points are not currently available but will be soonish, so you can't spend one to prevent the adding of the die at this point.

After 3 rounds of concentration, you determine that the woman has an Int of 26, which causes a mild pain behind your left eye but doesn't quite disrupt the spell. Her surface thoughts are jumbled and chaotic but seem split evenly between a disgust of the rats below, a true fear of the dark outside, and a desire for that hot bath she mentioned.

You sweep the rest of the house, but the only other intellects beyond your party and the old woman are a collection of them ranging from 10 to 16 below you. You detect nothing below about 10 feet down, but the number of intellects seems to increase and decrease over the few minutes you scan the room. You can't determine precise location, since you can't see the area (as the spell states).

[Esprit15]

Not that it particularly matters, but - Spot: [roll0]
Will: Moment of Perfect Mind: [roll1]

Recovery is just a full round of doing nothing, so easily done.
Tat-chta closes the door as everyone steps in. "How many of these rats have you seen at one time? Might be nice to know," the Thri-Kreen says, giving the building a once over before crouching by the trap door, lifting it to take a look down.

As he does so he notices the mage do something funny with his hands, and makes a mental note to mention it later.

[Quentinas]

Is not so much relevant but you could have some suspects on me
Spot [roll0]
Will [roll1]
Concentration check for psionic focus
[roll2]

As they walk the cat remain behind and after a while a low figure accompany them, he wears an armor and is not so much fast so to arrive without being too much behind he has to run
"Hi to everyone, i heard what that woman sayed and i want to help ,and I'm a bit curious about these rats with knives, my name is Sypeugor!", These words are his presentation and so he follows that company even if they say nothing to him
When he enters in the house he stop for some time , is a strange house and what the woman says is even more strange him ."Gonnagetchas? What are they? So it would be a problem if we take too much time ,and we would have to exit when is dark right?"
He stays near the barrel of water concentrating himself, and then wait to have an answer from the woman observing the companions for that adventure, with a smile on his small face.
A little crystal can be seen on his shoulder and the crystal seems to be on alert, with some pulse from inside , but it doesn't say anything for now.

He notices that Geras is doing something , but doesn't say anything, he doesn't know what is that spell so simply he lets him doing that without any problem

[Rizban]

You know that rats are animals that are quite small, are destructive to stores of food, and often carry disease. They're fairly common pests, so you're familiar enough with them. Unfortunately, you don't actually know anything about the relationship of rats to lycanthropy.

You know that a lycanthrope is an accursed person with the ability to transform into a feral beast, and stories tell of it afflicting others through its bite. You know lycanthropes possess the shapechanger subtype (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#shapechangerSubtype).

"Oh, just a few here or there, more than I'd like though. That's for sure! They don't really come upstairs much, but I keep all my canning in the cellar. I haven't had good preserves for my morning toast is over a week!"

Tat-chta finds the trapdoor nearly impossible to lift and will probably want to move the water barrel from on top of it. He estimates the full barrel to weigh nearly 600 lbs. He could, of course, simply topple it over, but that would spill the water everywhere and make quite a mess.

She waves dismissively at the new guy who just showed up. "If you're still here after nightfall, you're welcome to sleep in the corner. I can't have you wandering out and leaving the door open. Now, if there's nothing else..." she glances wistfully up the stairs, clearly wanting to get to her relaxing bath.

[FinnDarkblade]

Geras jerks in surprise at the sudden voice behind him, certain it hadn't come from the large man or the Thri-Kreen. He turns around to see a small, catlike man standing where the cat from the bar had been following them a moment ago. He takes a moment to collect his thoughts and then gives a polite bow.
"Master Spyeugor, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. For the sake of introductions my name is Geras Khul. I apologise, I hadn't realized your nature earlier."
He turns to the old woman again, the throbbing in his head returning slightly as she comes into the area of his spell again.
"I have no further questions myself ma'am, although I cannot speak for the others with me."
At this point he goes over to join the Thri-Kreen at the trap door to focus his spell through it for several rounds on the room below to find out if the minds he detected below are sentient.

[Rizban]

DM

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png

Time passes, and the old woman, whose name was never asked, has headed upstairs. You hear the sound of water loudly splashing into a basin, and the wooden beams creak at the increased weight above but soon settle.

Geras paces about the room, seeming to scan the basement below with some sort of magic.

With Int scores ranging from 10 to 16, they are definitely sentient. Sapient even. Average intelligence or better.

He is still unable to pinpoint locations or detect anything further than about 10 feet down.

You discover that the average intellect is closer to 10 than it is to 16, with only one individual so far spotted as being a 16. You also more accurately assess the number of individuals to be somewhere between 6 and 8, though at one point you spot as many as 10 for a few seconds before the numbers drop back down. Either individuals are coming and going from a location you can't detect, or they're moving about the room frequently enough to make you lose count. There's only one way to find out...

[FinnDarkblade]

Once the duration of his spell has passed Geras takes a deep breath and allows the energy to dissipate from his mind. He turns to those with him and states,
"Pardon, I have some information that should be useful. I've been scanning the room below for minds and there are definitely beings below us that aren't just simple rats. There are at least 6 and probably fewer than 16. Unfortunately I was unable to actually read the thoughts of any of them which could indicate beings that are dangerously strong. I believe there could be at least one Spellcaster as well, although it's hard to be certain. Tell me, are any of you familiar with wererats? It seems wise to prepare as best we can before entering a situation in which we may be outnumbered."

[Esprit15]

”Nope, but rats are rats, yeah?” Tat-chta says, getting down and ready to gently rock the barrel off off the door. After three rocks, he pauses. “Why, is there something special about wererats?” the Thri-Kreen asks, looking over at the arcanists, then back into the barrel.

[Jopustopin]

Roland

Roland had been following the group somewhat awkwardly but nevertheless keeping up. He seemed to sober up the more they walked and by the time the question was posed the man had perked up, "Bout time we found their lair."

"Oh yeah, a bunch of them pestern' the common folk down here on the docks. Gettin' ripe sick and tired of em'" Roland spits. "Thinkin' we should stick the small one, er... Master Spyeugor, in a block of cheese. Then roll em' down there for a lively surprise; eh?"


The balding man looks to want to go down there. Yet you see almost no gear on him - a long sleeved, thick shoddy shirt, brown pants, a belt. The only item that looks of any real value is an amulet he is wearing under his shirt.

[Quentinas]

He whispers to Geras"I would like that my nature is kept as a secret sir , so is better if you don't tell anyone" and then after he focus himself he tries to see what there could be in the house. Then the words of Geras arrive and he "I don't know anything about were rats, if needed i can go and try to scout, i can see in the darkness and even my crystal, but it could be an idea to fight in a place where not so many enemies can arrive at one time. I can create a construct that can help us , but other that i'm not sure how many were rats we can take" He says , trying to help them in that situation, they are new enemies for him . When Roland talk Sypeugor looks at him badly and says at loud voice "that is not an option! If i have to go as bait is better if i sneak and try to eliminate at least one of them before they spot me!" . Well the loud voice of a tibbit probably is something similiar to a cat who is angered as tone and when he calm down says "If there aren't any options and you doesn't want i sneak , the better thing is to go as a group"

[Jopustopin]

Roland

Roland's accent seems to shift when he realizes he's caused offense and he moves to make amends.

"I jest. I am sorry if I caused offense. My name is Roland and despite my appearances I am here to help." Roland says. "Coin is running low, trouble is running high, and sobriety can cause the latter to weigh no small amount upon my soul. I'm good with whichever approach we wish, although discretion is my suggestion."

[Rizban]

I'm waiting for someone to take an action that I can resolve.

[FinnDarkblade]

Geras gives the Thri-Kreen a somewhat pained look.
"A wererat is a shapeshifter. I don't know much about them in particular but shapeshifters in general are rather tough and are as intelligent as you or me. I believe it safe to assume they have the senses of an animal and so will be able to see quite well even in the dark. That's not really an issue for me but I don't know about the rest of you. I agree with Roland that we should be cautious here. I do have some magic that could strengthen and protect us in a fight if it came to it but if I was unable to read any of the minds of the beings below us it is unlikely that I will be able to affect them directly."

[Esprit15]

”Yes, I assumed that by the ‘were-‘ bit there. They bleed when you stab them? One of you said earlier that we needed to make preparations. I am asking what preparations we should take. Otherwise, I will move this barrel and we can get to cutting up rats.”

[Rizban]

DM

Moving the barrel proves to be impossible to due silently. The scraping against the floor and sloshing of water announce your intentions before you open the trapdoor. When the door opens, the faint sounds of scurrying from below come to a complete stop, and you see faintly glowing red eyes peering up at you from the darkness below.

From your position, you can sort of see six small vaguely human-like rat creatures; however, you know from Geras' scan that there are more just out of sight, perhaps visible with an actual light source.

Initiative

[roll0]
[roll4]
[roll3]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Battle Map (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qY1KCCDRHnRNUdhLS-xLMrsFoTPDBnv23PxZxPMrFkA/edit?usp=sharing)

Psypaw acts, then the rats, then everyone.

[Quentinas]

He stays silent nodding to Roland then again but to the human sized insect, and the rumor created by moving the barrel is not so good for him so he says"Impossible to be sneaky with this rumor, better to go down, even if I don't like to be alone among enemies," and then he goes near the hole that goes down observing what he can with his darkvision , then says "And be fast all of you if they come up here i don't know how much the granny would be happy and how much i can resist to their attacks" Then he goes down closing the distances with one wererats observing how many of them are in that basement, he should be able to see them with his darkvision , rapier in one hand and shield in the other and says " Sorry rats but you have to leave from here, or be killed" attacking one of them while stays on defensive and with his weapon charged of psionic energy
I use a move action to go in 5G pulling out the rapier ,free action i charge the deep crystal weapon using 2 power points, then I try to strike while figthing defensively so -4 to attack roll +3 to AC (for synergy with tumble)
Attack roll :1d20+11-4
Damage roll of the weapon [roll0](if i remember well there should be a mininum of 1 damage)
Damage roll of the sneak attack [roll1]
Damage roll of the deep crystal charged weapon [roll2]
Power points 17/19
Hp 38

[Quentinas]

OFF I submitted in the wrong way the attack rolll the damages are correct, and here is the correct attack roll
[roll0]

[Rizban]

DM

Psypaw drops down the ladder and lunges at "Ratman" 2, catching it flat-footed and piercing its unarmored hide for 16 damage. It screeches in pain and anger as it clutches at the wound.

Psypaw looks around and notices 3 more ratmen on the south side of the room along with piles of dirt and debris stacked haphazardly.

Ratman Leader begins casting a spell.

Ratman 1 moves into a flanking position in F5 and stabs at Psypaw's back, almost catching him off guard, but Psypaw evades.
[roll0] – [roll1]

Ratman 2 draws a knife and also stabs at Psypaw, its eyes filled with hate. Fortunately, Psypaw easily evades its undisciplined stab.
[roll2] – [roll3]

Ratman 3 moves to F4 and attacks, flailing wildly in the air.
[roll4] – [roll5]

Ratman 4 moves to E6 and drops into a defensive stance, obviously ready to attack the next person to drop down from above.

Ratman 5 moves to G6 and attacks, proving to be the only competent fighting so far, striking Psypaw for 6 damage.
[roll6] – [roll7]

Ratman 6 moves to E7 and readies an attack.

Ratman 7 was on its way out of the room and turns back, trying to figure out what's happening. It does not move.

Ratman 8 dumps the load of debris its carrying onto one of the piles and pulls out a dagger. It also looks confused and does not move.

[Esprit15]

Tat-chta gives a shrug and, taking a defensive stance, hopping down into the hole. He steps in front of Roland, and takes a swipe at one of the rats.
Fight Defensively - AC goes up by 2, attack goes down by 4
Move to E5
Attack: [roll0] Crit on 18-20
Crit Confirm: [roll1]

Damage: [roll2]

Blood in the Water Counter: 0

[Jopustopin]

Roland

The old man really hesitates for a bit before grinning and shouting at Tat-chta. "You got it! We right behind you!" A certain urge takes a hold of Tat-chta that inspires him to unleash another attack.

Meanwhile, Drunk Roland seems to tumble clumsily down the hole as if he simply threw himself down. Upon landing he seemed to be alright, holding (somehow) a common-looking brown clay mug with stains on it. It's filled with beer.

He sways unsteadily in melee, while holding a stein of beer and serendipitously does not spill a drop.


AC: 18 due to mage armor.

Swift: White Raven Tactics targeted at Tat-chta.
Move: Tumble down the hole and towards F7; [roll0] while pulling out an everfull mug from his belt.
Standard: Fill his stein with beer.

[Esprit15]

"Ooh, you all are going to make fun prey," Tat-chta says as he begins slashing and biting at the nearby wererats.
Still defensive, so same penalties and bonuses apply

Attacking R1 (should have clarified, that's the one I targeted last time)
Every confirmed crit adds +1 to hit and damage

Kukri
Attack: [roll0] Crit on 18-20
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

Kukri
Attack: [roll3] Crit on 18-20
Crit Confirm: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]

Kukri
Attack: [roll6] Crit on 18-20
Crit Confirm: [roll7]
Damage: [roll8]

Kukri
Attack: [roll9] Crit on 18-20
Crit Confirm: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11]

Bite
Attack: [roll12]
Crit Confirm: [roll13]
Damage: [roll14]

Blood in the Water Counter: 1

[FinnDarkblade]

Geras, expecting a spellcaster, attempts to use the partial cover of the trapdoor, and peers through to find him. Upon seeing their leader begin casting his spell he targets him with a Silence spell.

AC=16 or 18 vs Ranged + under effect of Mirror Image

Hide Check: [roll0]
Will Save DC 16 for Silence or 17 if my hide check works.

[Quentinas]

He dodges many strike but one pass his defense and he grin as the pain from the knife is not something he likes so much . But his attention is focused on the rats who didn't anything , as he fear that among them there is a spellcaster and as two rats seems confused the last one have to be doing something . He doesn't like so much spellcaster and he doesnt' like to be so much surrounded . So he uses again one of his power hopping behind one of the rats the he makes a somersault to go awy from here and flanking the rat leader trying to strike him again with his psionic charged weapon

Swift action i use dimension hop to go in E4
Move action i use tumble at full speed to go in C5 (DC 15+10 for full speed)
Free action i charge the deep crystal weapon
Standard action attack rat leader
Tumble roll :[roll0]
attack roll :[roll1] (+2 because flanking)
rapier damage [roll2] (mininum 1)
sneak attack damage(because i flank with that cha):[roll3]
deep crystal weapon damage :[roll4]
Power points 14/19
HP 32/38

[Rizban]

DM

Tat-chta drops down the ladder, triggering Ratman 4 and 6's readied attacks. He evades one but Ratman 6 catches him off guard with a brutal stab for 4 damage, with Tat-chta twisting at the last second to avoid a critical wound.
[roll0] – [roll1]
[roll2] – [roll3]
Tat-chta then moves to make room at the ladder, provoking 4 attacks of opportunity. He is hit twice for a total of 10 damage.
[roll4] – [roll5]
[roll6] – [roll7]
[roll8] – [roll9]
[roll10] – [roll11]
Weaving through the flurry of knives, Tat-chta scores a critical hit on Ratman 1 for 6 damage.

Geras moves to Q6 in order to get line of effect to the Ratman Leader and casts silence. The leader does not attempt to resist the spell, entirely cutting of the sounds of battle.

Roland drunkenly stumbles, I mean, deftly tumbles into the cellar, the only real threat he faces at the moment is the dire affliction known as sobriety. Thankfully, he has a potion for that.

Sadly, none of the ratmen hear Tat-chta's verbal threat through the magical silence, though his kukri dancing their bloody ballet adequately convey the message. He tears into Ratman 1 for another 14 damage.

Round 2

Psypaw dimension hops and then clumsily tumbles away, allowing Ratman 3 to sneak in an attack, which misses. Ratman Leader doesn't make an attempt, because he's busy casting a spell.
[roll12] – [roll13]
His rapier attack against the spellcaster is blocked half an inch away from connecting by a wall of force that faintly shimmers in the shape of a tower shield before becoming invisible once more.

Ratman Leader completes his spell, summoning 3 evil looking rats the same size as the ratmen in squares C4, C6, and E4. He then drops down the hole out of sight.

Fiendish Dire Rat 1 and 2 both attack Psypaw, who moved to threaten the caster, but both miss.
[roll14] – [roll15] + Disease ([roll16])
[roll17] – [roll18] + Disease ([roll19])
Fiendish Dire Rat 3 attacks the other biggest threat so far, Tat-chta. His defensive stance allows him to get a kukri between the bite and his chitin, giving him just enough time to dodge.
[roll20] – [roll21] + Disease ([roll22])
Ratman 1 attacks Tat-chta, but stumbles and ends up almost dropping his dagger.
[roll23] – [roll24]
Ratman 2 sees that it's no longer under immediate threat of danger and takes off at full speed down the tunnel to the east, quickly disappearing into the darkness.

Ratman 3 and 4 attack Tat-chta. He is hit once for 5 damage.
[roll25] – [roll26]
[roll27] – [roll28]
Ratman 5 takes a 5-ft step south. Then 5 and 6 both attack Roland. Both score hits, one critically, for 13 damage.
[roll29] – [roll30]
[roll31] – [roll32]
Ratman 7 thinks number 2 had the right idea and runs down the tunnel west into the darkness. Ratman 8 follows close behind.

[Jopustopin]

Roland

The fat man dodges the creatures blows as he tries to drink his ale. Clearly the human has priorities in life. Bobby and weaving in the fashion of a drunk, he moves back a step before suddenly changing direction quickly with a solid left hook.


AC: 1819 vs R5
HP: 29/42

Move: Drink like a Demon. -2 Int, Wis. Plus 2 Strength. Last for 4 rounds.
Five-foot Step: G8
Dodge Feat: R5
Standard: Left Hook [roll0] for [roll1]

Will use Wall of BladesAKA Wall of Beer Mugs as an immediate action to counter a successful melee attack this round. [roll2]

[Esprit15]

Think I only subtracted 2 instead of 4 like I should have for fighting defensi
As the leader makes their escape, Tat-chta attempts to bite into the rat-man's flank.
Bite
Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
If Crit: +[roll3]

If hit: Poison - DC 13 Fort, [roll4] DEX damage, [roll5] minutes of Paralyze if second save a minute later also fails

Seeing himself quickly becoming surrounded by rats, Tat-chta keeps up the defensive stance. "'Just rats,' she says! 'I'll pay you in cookies and milk,' she says! And she wonders why humans aren't liked here!" Tat-chta takes a quick step to the side to help keep the pressure off of Psypaw, and begins swinging and slashing at the wererats in front of him. "Present company excluded, probably."
5ft Step to D6, Fight Defensively. Attacking R4 until it goes down, switching to R6 when it does.

Kukri
Attack: [roll6]
Crit Confirm: [roll7]
Damage: [roll8]
If Crit: +[roll9]

Kukri
Attack: [roll10]
Crit Confirm: [roll11]
Damage: [roll12]
If Crit: +[roll13]

Kukri
Attack: [roll14]
Crit Confirm: [roll15]
Damage: [roll16]
If Crit: +[roll17]

Kukri
Attack: [roll18]
Crit Confirm: [roll19]
Damage: [roll20]
If Crit: +[roll21]

Bite
Attack: [roll22]
Crit Confirm: [roll23]
Damage: [roll24]
If Crit: +[roll25]

Blood in the Water Counter: 1

[Quentinas]

attack roll :[roll0] (+2 because flanking at least i think)
rapier damage [roll1] (mininum 1)
sneak attack damage(because i flank with that cha even for the AoO i think):[roll2]
deep crystal weapon damage (because i missed before is still charged) :[roll3]

"I'm not a human so no problem about that, but damn these rats are annoying, they should be my prey not the opposite!" Then he look at the insect "Stay more defensive he can generally i collaborate to fight and there is too many to be able to summon my construct without being striked" then he dimension hopped again moving toward the ratman who was attacked by the insect to collaborate, he is good at striking enemies so maybe together they can do more than only being hitted by rats without killing even one . But in case the situations should go in the worst way he can still retire himself now that he is near the stairs to go on the upper floor

Swift action to use dimension hop to move in E5
5ft step in F6
Standard action attack on defensive against R4 (+3 on AC for synergy with tumble)
attack roll :[roll4] (+2 because flanking -4 fighting defensively)
rapier damage [roll5] (mininum 1)
sneak attack damage:[roll6]
deep crystal weapon damage (if i striked with the AoO don't count this roll) :[roll7]
Power point 13/19
Hit points 32/38