Session 104: The Rat King Makes His Presence Felt

 Day 11 of Goodmonth

Following the battle with the undead, the group took refuge inside the barrow maze in hopes of finding a quiet spot for the magic users to memorize and recoup their spell casting abilities. Upon entering the second entrance of the barrow maze, the group's collective hair stood on end: they were being watched! Or at least that was the sensation they all felt. As they pressed forward, they noted the acrid smell of death and decay that was particularly strong this time of exploration. Upon arriving at some previously explored rooms, the group (which consisted of Feno, Armatzi, Lhoss, Nikki, Gnorcia, Kyro, Calbach, Chalkboi, and the animal companions Zraith and Jack) ventured into a side room that was attached to another room. Here the stench of death and decay was especially strong that caused everyone to be very nauseous. Most of the group quickly left the room, but a couple members were overcome with the nauseous feeling and lingered in the room longer than probably should've. Armatzi and Chalkboi, being overcome with the strong stenches emitted by the room, began to vomit uncontrollably. Finally, they leave the toxic room and rejoin the party in next room, falling to their knees upon exiting. Once cleared from the room, the group, and especially the magic users of the group get a fair amount of distance away from the room, in order to properly focus on getting their magic skills back. Both Lhoss and Armatzi are successful in the return of spells. While they are studying, little Gnorcia decides to play some bone dice with the sentient cat, Jack. Once the party has secured its magical abilities, they decide to press on, hoping to find more treasure. 

With each step into the unknown, they get a sense of foreboding, seeing weird shadows on the walls, and weird angles jutting out. The group stops, when someone notices glowing runes along the wall. Jack hunkers down in a mixture of fear and anxiety. Seeing the runes, he proclaims that it is a sign of the rats, sworn enemies of cats. Gnorcia, remembering that she had a crown of translation, translates the rune meanings. With its use, she gets a massive headache, but was able to translate it to a confusing statement that talked about the rise of rats and the fall of cats. Upon its translation, the runes lose their meaning luster and stop glowing. The group decides to press forward, arriving at a room with a pit the group had previously put slime into. With the aid of Zraith's flipper, Armatzi looks down into the pit, and confirms that slime was still inside. Pressing on, the group arrives near the juncture where they had previously been attacked by the undead cats. The same cats that nearly killed the party. They find a bashed in door near one of the rooms and decide to investigate. Inside they find many burial alcoves and pile of breadcrumbs in the middle of the room. As they search the alcoves for potential treasure, their presence and noise during this search alerts some furry enemies. They hear many padded feet and squeaks coming from the hallway. Both Feno and Armatzi rush out of the room to investigate these new arrivals, while the rest of the party stays in the room initially. Feno and Armatzi both see many, many giant rats, being led by the rat king Filth Fang. 

Rat after rat start attacking, mainly Feno, but a few attack Armatzi. None of these initial rat attacks are successful: they each repel the rodent attacks. Armatzi looking up towards his diety decides to say a small prayer, which assisted the party their ability to hit these creatures. Feno draws his blade and attacks, slaying 4 rats himself. This quick rat stomping enrages the leader Fang, who hisses an incantation in rage. He casts a spell that affects Feno, Lhoss, and Zraith causing them to immediately fall down. They have the mental sensation of being clawed and bitten, which causes them to flay about on the ground. Calbach decides to use a magical arrow in hopes of striking the rat leader. He fires arrow with his bow watching sail towards Fang. However, the rat leader catches the arrow in mid-flight, and, with a menacing glare, crushes both the arrow, and arrowhead into pieces. The group takes turns taking down the other rats while Lhoss and Feno continue to be afflicted the rat king's spell. Sensing defeat, Fang quickly disappears while the group is distracted. Once the last rat is finished off by Armatzi, the spell wears off both Lhoss and Feno. Zraith had fought off the effects earlier. Having remembered fearing the magical effects of the undead cats, and now this, Feno exclaims in anger and frustration, that the group should pursue the escaped leader, because "he has a date with my sword." The group, due to hardships and trainings of past encounters, opt to try to replenish their funds and search for more treasure. They continue onward and discover a room with an alter covered in fresh blood, as well as many burial alcoves and crypts. In their searching they discover more than 100 silver-plated skulls, and more gold pieces. They heard some stomping of feet in the nearby hallway, and decide to prepare for battle, bracing one door and waiting near the other.