Episode Sixteen write up

An Urban Interlude Part Three – It’s found to be not as simple as it looked and then it all goes horribly wrong in quite unexpected ways

Dramatis Personae

Leon – a Brandobian Human Fighter & self styled hero

Quirrel – a Halfling Thief

Nyadryn – a Brandobian Human, fighter

Esme– a Brandobian human, a loud over enthusiastic person, Nyadryn’s girl friend

Siskin – a Halfling Cleric of Chance Quirrel’s cousin

Larifus– a Gnome,

Quelsteine– a Gnome

Briana – a Half Elven fighter magic user 

Location
the Brandobian county town of Vayham in the North West corner of the region in a long abandoned smugglers tunnel and store and parts of the new town sewer it would seem

Events

(These take place during episode XIV & XV of the main story and they follow on exactly from the end of the previous session)

Having more or less announced the company’s presence to the huge rat which was half out of the tunnel in the far wall Esme proceeded to set her shield and slide the socketing axe form her belt and march forward at a steady almost drilled pace. Everyone else took some time to react to her action and even the rat towards whom she was heading did no more than regard her advance with casual interest. The first to react after this was Siskin who rushed forward to engage before Esme followed by Leon, who swore and moved quickly to a jog followed by an alarmed Nyadryn who accelerated into a blind sprint, drawing his short sword  and shouting at Esme to stand away as he closed with the still unreactive rat. Esme seemingly ignored him and accelerated herself to quickly close the last few feet.  The wickedly sharp axe swung and hit the rat solidly on the head. Leon and Siskin arrived in range of the rat Siskin because this was as fast as he could go on his short legs and Leon because he had a few more feet to cover. Behind Quirrel calmly loaded his sling and began to spin it up to speed, this was as close as he was going to get to the blasted thing he thought. Briana and Quelsteine stood back near the door into the room it was not yet their fight.

Nyadryn stabbed the rat desperate to save his beloved from the creature, regardless that his beloved did not seem to want to be saved and was laying it on with an axe like a pro a few feet away. Siskin lunged at the huge beast and missed whilst Leon unable to reach it past those who arrived first waited his chance to do something heroic. The rat having been roused by Esme’s axe blow had been snapping at the fighting line since but only now found its chance and clamped its massive jaws around Nyadryn’s leg betwixt boot and the hem of his studded jack the burly fighter gritted his jaw in pain and staggered a step back but did not fall. Larifus, alarmed at the huge size of the thing panicked and ran when he finally reacted he was a lover not a fighter after all, and would have fled the room had not Briana tripped him as he passed her and sent him sprawling. Leon made to step into the gap but found there was none, so continued to await his chance for heroics. Behind Quirrel sling whirled as he tried to sport a gap in the fighting line he could lose his stone at the rat through. Siskin took full advantage of the rat turning its attention away for an instant and drove his sword into it hilt deep slamming the cross guard hard into the Rat’s mangy fur the rat spasmed, as it entered its death throes, and Siskin trying to recover his deeply buried blade lost his grip on the hilt and slipped and fell as the force of his own tugging threw him back. Nyadryn took a step towards Esme to comfort her at this horrid sight only to have is breath taken away by the pain of shifting his weight onto his hurt leg and unleash a barrack room curse the like of which should never be said in front of a lady. Leon decided to help the little man by rolling the now dead rat over and yanking his short sword free. Ever the soldier he wiped it clean before handing it back to Siskin who had by now scrambled back to his feet “bravely struck littler man” he said as he did.  Esme completely unfazed by the fight despite of for that matter Nyadryn’s barracks curse bent down to examine the corpse with an inexpert eye, that’s one giant rat she exclaimed loudly as ever. Quirrel feeling much safer now that it was defiantly dead picked up his lantern and moved over to  have a look and show off the fact that Greytar’s great treatise, or a knock off copy of part of it any way had been his recent bed time reading. He considered the rat its size, it’s over sized head and squat powerful body, he also noted the patches of what looked a lot like mange on a dog and decided not to get too close as the thing was certainly as diseased as it was possible to get and he did not want to catch any of them.  Then he announced it’s an Oliphant rat but quite what it’s doing so far north and from the coast is any ones guess as they are not naturally found here about, Quirrel shuddered scaring himself with his own conclusion, that someone might have deliberately bought the thing and probably others here. Mean while Siskin remembered that he had been gifted with healing last time he had prayed to RISK and seeing this as the perfect opportunity to be useful proceeded to cast a trifling cure on Nyadryn’s bitten leg, the wound closed a little and the pain subsided and the fighter mumbled his thanks and on being told he had been healed by RISK a prayer of thanks.

Esme prodded it one last time with the toe her inelegantly booted foot and suggested that someone needed to move it out of the way as it was still partly blocking the hole and that was obviously where they had to go next. Leon obliged by dragging the thing to one side, Esme said someone needs to go and have a look down there someone small, this latter observation being brought on by the tunnel roof being not much above Esme’s waist and at most a yard wide. Siskin collared Larifus who had wandered over to have a look at the Rat now it was dead to help as gnomes can see in the dark better than Halflings and it would be good to see anything else like that, indicating the rat, we might find down there coming. For some reason even though he was also of a size to be able to explore the passage Siskin did not even suggest that his cousin should help. Shaken by his earlier conclusions Quirrel decided to go and see if he could get the two newcomers to join in the mission. This would be a decision he may come to regret in latter life, if that is he makes it that far. Mean while on the other side of the room Siskin and Larifus entered the tunnel whilst Nyadryn and Esme stood guard.

Whilst Siskin and Larifus where off exploring starting not long after they left in fact the events in the abandoned smugglers lair took an interesting turn of events Quirrel approached the new comers Quelsteine and Briana intending to recruit them to join the company for the mission at least.

Quelsteine and Briana had apart from halting the fleeing Larifus had rather stood aloof since they were first encountered but Quirrel saw no reason that they should not join in with the mission after all three silvers was good money for a day’s work even if it was going to be a trice more complicated than it had at first looked, not to mention that paying that still left him with a tidy profit and gained him more people to stand between him and the teeth of the next Oliphant rat they met

Leaving everyone else in the second store room the intrepid duo of Siskin and Larifus moved to explore the tunnel. The tunnel was dark and dank smelling strongly of animals and obviously dug by rats of at least the size of the one that they had encountered before, it was winding and branched off in many directions but Larifus could not help but think the main direction was at least slightly downwards. Going in the tunnels was not easy as the floors where distinctly uneven and the ceiling low even for a Gnome or a Halfling. The side passages where often narrower and lower than the main one an each seemed to end in a small chamber full of shredded materials mostly unidentifiable but some defiantly cloth straw and street sweepings and this material was also to be found in small quantities in the area of the approaches to the final chamber. They were as far as both Larifus and Siskin where concerned nests, containing even more titanic rats and as such best left undisturbed. Siskin in particular rather felt that RISK had blessed him as much as it was going to this day. Eventually the pair wound their way through the winding passages and dead ends to a hole in a stone lined wall where it would seem several of the flat irregular slabs which covered the wall had been pulled away and left scattered on the floor almost as if someone had done it to allow the rats to tunnel out.

The room beyond was large, lined with thick stone blocks and very high ceilinged, with simple vaulting rising to perhaps as much as fifteen feet. The chamber was dimly at least lit by natural light. The source of this seemed to be a grill in the ceiling, or rather at the top of a shaft in the ceiling it was difficult to tell as all easy views where blocked by a massive mound of rotting vegetation and the room was filled with a foul cloying sickly sweet odour. As the pair approached the mound gingerly it was found to be heaving with the movement of unseen creatures within. Seeing a large exit on the far side of then pile Siskin and Larifus backed round the mound backs to the wall so as to investigate it and at the same time keep an eye out for attacks by any creature emerging from the rotting vegetation. As they had seen what appeared to be an entrance on the far side of the room  as they did they came across a door in the wall but decided not to explore that way for now as it was firmly shut. Further on they passed a second somewhat smaller rat hole in the wall where once more somebody had removed the lining stones to allow the rats to dig when they reached the exit they had seen from the other side of the room it was discovered to be a wide high vaulted passage like the room it lead away from plain but well and expensively built, with slightly rusted but empty wall sconces for torches at regular intervals. Moving along it stealthily Siskin and Larifus passed a shut door to their left from around which a vile smell issued worse than the smell of rotting vegetation in the room they had just passed through. This one had a lachrymatory effect on both the Halfling and the Gnome.

Continuing on down the passage way they passed down a set of broad shallow steps before coming to a large well made shut wooden door. Listening at that door suggested whatever was beyond was empty and unoccupied but on opening the door a crack Larifus saw the moving shapes of large rats in the dim light of Siskin’s torch so they decided to close the door and explore in the other direction. Pausing only to check that the door from behind which the tear jerking stench came was unlocked the pair retraced their steps to the closed door they had found in the first room, once again taking care to avoid the large rotting pile of vegetable waste which if anything now seemed to be more active and the light from the grate far above was growing even dimmer yet as the night drew on. It too was unlocked and opened easily suggesting that it was well used Opening it cautiously the pair slipped through.

The passage way beyond was as wide and as well built as the first they had explored being at Larifus guess about seven feet wide and over ten high roofed with a flattened arch the walls where lined with stone cut stone blocks around half a gnomes span square of carefully cut local stone. They where unmortared but if they were as deep as the ones he had seen displaced at the rat hole, at around a gnomes cubit, then they would not need to be. Beyond the door the passage was a little narrower than the first perhaps but as high and also vaulted with flattened arches. It was unlit thought there where rusted wall sconces at regular intervals none of which contained a torch or showed any sign a torch had burned in it recently. Very shortly the passage climbed up a shallow set of steps and there was an entry to the left from which Larifus could see the faint glimmer of a distant torch though he doubted Siskin could. LARIFUS pointed this out to Siskin and there was a whispered discussion and the two moved to explore further as carefully and quietly as they could. However a short distance down the side passage Larifus signalled a halt as the chamber at the end came into view and in the glow of the still distant torch and out of sight he could see movement slipping a little closer and listening Siskin heard the squeaking and scratching of rat’s very large rats and signalled a retreat. Returning to the main passage and after a further short discussion the pair decided to report back and retraced there steps back to the rest of the company in the abandoned smugglers store here they found every one save Quirrel waiting in an uneasy silence.

Whilst Siskin and Larifus where off exploring starting not long after they left in fact the events in the abandoned smugglers lair took an interesting turn of events

Quelsteine and Briana had apart from halting the fleeing Larifus had rather stood aloof since they were first encountered but Quirrel saw no reason that they should not join in with the mission after all three silvers was good money for a day’s work even if it was going to be a trice more complicated than it had at first looked, not to mention that paying that still left him with a tidy profit and gained him more people to stand between him and the teeth of the next Oliphant rat they met. Drawing himself up to his full high and taking on the mantle of being in charge he approached the gnome first as he was to be honest a more approachable height after all. He made his opening offer of employment and the gnome turned him down to Quirrel’s surprise quite curtly saying that he was part of some sort and embassy and not really looking for casual day jobs no matter how well paid they were for what they were. At this point Leon sidled over to get away from Esme and Nyadryn whose interpretation of guard duty was becoming a bit well sissy for him to be comfortable with they had started holding hands. Not knowing quite how to respond Quirrel pressed on any way. Larifus did not like this not taking of a no for an answer and repeated his point somewhat more bluntly and more assertively. Quirrel feeling brave for once pressed his point and it degenerated into a row. Briana intervened claiming to be Quelsteine’s body guard and saying that Quirrel should listen to what was said and go away, she said this in a tone which implied the addition of you common little man. Leon hand slid onto his sword hilt as the row escalated further. Whilst across the room Esme and Nyadryn remained oblivious holding hands and staring into each other eyes. Who drew first of Leon is unclear but the sudden ring of steel been drawn startled Quirrel and sent his thoughts into a tumble. Where these two actually spies or enemy agents was where it landed up and he was terrified again even more so when Briana raised her off hand and blue fire flickered around it, Quirrel panicked, he bolted past them followed by Leon who backed away covering the fleeing Quirrel. They quickly crossed the outer room and entered the passage way where they paused for a hurried discussion.

Back in the second store room Quelsteine and Briana did not give chase what was the point the officious little man was only running off to tell his tale to his master who would likely tell him to man up and not throw his weight around. She released her spell harmlessly and put up her sword. Quelsteine said nothing and relaxed feeling rather that he had made his point and his honour and dignity where quite intact. The other two distracted now form their romancing asked what that was all about but the only reply they got was Briana’s comment stuff of nonsense and an almost imperceptible shrug from Quelsteine

After Quirrel and Leon parted company in the passage way, Quirrel made his way along the tunnel as fast as he could. He needed to warn the guard that there where spies or worse already in the town and perhaps more than the two he had found. His head filled with possibilities each less pleasant than the last, they could be Elidoran as the central kingdom was said to be eager to reunite Brandobia by force of arms and everyone knew that Cosdol was the weakest of the three, they could be Kalamarans as once their empire had crossed the great pass and come close to conquering all of the lands of the Brandobians  with many of the first battles being fought around  here, then they could be B’parans seeking to control both ends of the great pass, or the people behind all the goblin trouble the possibilities where almost endless and all very bad. As a result of him being somewhat consumed by this and the need to tell someone in authority and the accompanying more general fear he almost walked straight into the six angry men in the cellar.

The one thing that stopped him was noticing that someone had replaced the torch in the sconce at the base of the stairs and lit it and the glow he spotted as he approached the door forewarned him as he knew the half elf spy had picked up the candle, so it should be dark. They all looked like farmers, but the town was full of refugee farmers so looking like one would be an ideal cover for the agents of any of the enemies of Cosdol whoever they actually where. Whoever they might be they were not happy and some of them at least where armed if only with clubs. It’s the thief one of them announced on seeing Quirrel in a good local Brandobian accent of as crossed Quirrel’s fevered mind a very good impersonation of one. Where’s our money another added and Quirrel remembered the weight of his coin purse full of pilfered trade coins. Scrag the little bastard added another eager for revenge. For a moment Quirrel wondered at the word scrag and then remembered it was country slang for lynch. He struggled to stay calm, he needed to talk his way out of this, there were far too many to fight even if he was a fighter and he was not. It’s not like that he began I am from the market authority and searching for his warrant he fumbled through his other pouch I can prove it. Give us back our money you little squirt another said adding may be we don’t kill him just beat him and strip him down to his braes, find what he took, take it and the rest then fling him over the bank for the beggars to take to the temple of the flay master they have in the shambles. I have a warrant Quirrel announced triumphantly producing the piece of vellum Bevan had given him and holding it up for them to see. They all laughed evilly and poor Quirrel lost it this was worse than the incident where Siskin took him scrumping and he ended up sat up in one of farmer Dvorn’s apple trees terrified out of his when the ladder fell down by accident and Siskin got chased off by the farmer’s dogs. This was all going wrong again, the angry men lunged at him to grab him and he dropped the lantern he had been holding. It all went much darker there was a yelp as someone stood in the pool of spilt hot oil and Quirrel finding himself blocked from retreat made a mad dodging dash thought the men towards the stairs. An ecstasy of fumbling in the half dark followed with Quirrel moving on pure survival instinct as the men tried to grab him or club him. Breathless he made the stairs but it did not take long for his pursuers to organise themselves and come after him and with his short legs he was barely out of the door of the house before the first of them caught up and again made a dive for him. He missed a second tried and others shouted stop thief and a mob formed as passerby’s joined in the chase. Quirrel dodged and wove as if his very life depended on it all down the street as he was sure that it did until he ran into a patrol of the Counts guard on south gate street just by the hospital.  

the red arrow is Quirrels approximate path

By that time both perused and pursuers where distinctly winded by the chase and in some cases rather filthy from trying to tackle a wildly dodging Halfling missing and going face down on the muddy street. For some while neither could do more than heavy breathe and the corporal in charge of the patrol was inclined to arrest the lot of them for a breach of the peace at least  if not  riot. However he decided to give them time to catch their collective breaths so they could explain themselves and also to allow those citizens who had done no more than join a hue and cry to return to their business. Indeed by the time Quarrel could speak again only the angry farmers and a few hangers on with nothing better to do remained of the small mob that had been after him not long before.

A short discussion, well argument ensued during which the farmers attempted to convince the guard that Quirrel was a thief and a burglar and he that they where some sort of enemy agents or in league with them and he was an official about his lawful duty. In the end Quirrel won out not least because the corporal recognised his warrant even if he could not read it. The farmers where duly arrested and taken off to the geol at the keep for proper interrogation latter. Quirrel was escorted to the nearby south gate where he had the chance to talk to the duty sergeant who was already aware of part of the problem having been informed of the tunnel by Leon and having had to detail men to guard it whilst it was comprehensively blocked up. When Quirrel mentioned the spies, the sergeant took him directly to the captain who listened to him and made sure that his plan to trap the spies by literally bringing the house down on them was put into operation. At which point Quirrel was free to go and decided he should report to Bevan.

Leon slipped back into the smugglers store and tried to the best of his limited acting ability to behave as if the row with Quirrel and Briana had never happened, all whilst doing his best to keep a surreptitious eye on what they where up to. He said when asked that Quirrel had just gone to check in with his boss like last time. Esme and Nyadryn still bemused at the sudden eruption of verbal conflict between Quelsteine and Quirrel left it at that for now. In any event Esme was more interested in waiting for the return of the scouting party and Nyadryn more interested in protecting Esme, even from dangers she was happy to accept. Briana and Quelsteine and said nothing and all was quiet save for Esme’s occasional  loud comment about quite how much fun all this adventuring lark was.  Nyadryn for all he loved her could not help but wonder if the silly girl would find it so after she nearly got her leg bitten off by a gigantic rat, however love or something akin to it stayed his tongue. Time passed and the torches burned down a deal and the candles burned out. Eventually Siskin and Larifus returned, somewhat grubbier and defiantly smellier to report what they had found.

There was a discussion and given that Siskin and Larifus had said the rat tunnels where full of rats nests continuing no doubt a large number of gigantic rats who where fortunately asleep when they traversed them and the complex beyond as far as they had dared investigate was also full of them, not all of which seemed to be asleep and more tunnel exits meaning more tunnel warrens suggesting more nests, and a corresponding large but unknown number of rats had been found. The best thing to do was to regroup and reequip as though what had been found certainly posed a threat to the town and needed dealing with the best time to do that was in the day. No one was sure what time it was but felt it had grown rather late.  The impromptu company decided to retrace its steps to the surface. They moved back quickly through the abandoned smugglers lair and into the smugglers tunnel, here they turned north intending to leave through the house or perhaps to camp there over night. After a short distance it became apparent that the air was full of dust, it caught the light of the companies torches as floating dust does and tickled their nostrils, at first no one thought anything of it but as they moved further it got worse and by the time they reached near the end of the tunnel in sight of the door it was more a mist as in a flower mill or as Nyadryn commented in a saw mill with which Esme the Master carpenters daughter could only agree, and the dust irritated their noses and died their mouths. When they reached the end of the tunnel its cause became all too unpleasantly apparent. The house above had been literally bought down and had collapsed into the cellar. What had been the cellar was now an impassable being filled with an almost jumble of joists, planks, beams, broken wattle infill panels, and fragments of rough plaster and ancient thatch from the collapsed house. Not impossible to clear exactly had they the tools but they did not and so which they did not. Leon lost it. The bastard the half sized murderous backstabbing bastard he did this it’s his fault I will worse than kill him when I catch him. More to mollify a fuming Leon than in any hope of the other end of the tunnel still being open the company trudged all the way to the other end and as they had half expected found it to be thoroughly blocked. Leon was less than happy even though this is what he had asked for himself.

What to do next they where trapped from this direction and the only way out was likely to be found on the other side of the complex which Siskin and LARIFUS had scouted. The company adjourned to the smugglers store to discuss what to do next. Their mood was low they had been betrayed and that weighed more on some than on others. However here Esme rather took charge saying that her father would pay four silvers to each of them for rescuing her from this dungeon, a discussion followed about whether Esme’s father could afford that sort of cash, but once they realised he was one of the richest master craftsmen in Vayham and further doted on his youngest daughter the matter was quickly settled.

So the company traversed the rat tunnels, on hands and knees in some cases keeping to the main drag to avoid the nests and becoming increasingly aware of the unseen presence of massive rats all around them. Nyadryn gritted his teeth as he did so because the process of crawling through the narrow tunnel served to reawaken the pain in his leg wound which Siskin’s healing had sent to sleep. Briana found the whole process distinctly undignified and was almost glad when they reached the sewer where she could stand and at need fight.

As he wandered back to the office Quirrel was quite pleased that the day had on the whole despite its very definite alarums and excursions gone his way over all and it was quite the pleasant evening for a stroll, it was he supposed a pity about Siskin, but he took too many risks and sooner or latter one was going to catch up with him and now it had.

When he arrived at the office the night lamp was lit so he was surprised to find it still open as even Bevan could not surly be working this late. Especially given that much of the work they were now doing was make work what with the markets being so quiet due to the goblin situation still it would save him a job in the morning and get it out of the way. Quirrel’s buoyant mood evaporated as he walked into the main office and saw Bevan waiting for him, with a look of thunder on his face. Bevan spoke he was fuming he told Quirrel he was a blithering idiot as the mission which was supposed to have been a quiet unobtrusive check of one of the temples, not currently used, assets had been done with such a fanfare of fuss that the world and its dog knew about it, not only that but the guard had thoroughly blocked it and destroyed some of the temples property to do so. This robs the temple of the rental income as well and we have nosy bastards from the Counts Guard and from the temple of the true no less asking very awkward questions of all of us and threatening to arrest Argarven, who Quirrel knows is the senior priest of the order, for complicity in a smuggling operation that has not run in nearly seventy years. You Bevan said really rising to the task are an utter incompetent and a total liability up with whom the temple and the market authority will no longer put, your fired clear you desk and go and may the coin lord curse you with poverty all your days and you end them starving in the gutter. Not feeling the need to clear his desk or hang round for the rest of Bevan’s tirade, in case if nothing else he remembered the fifty silvers Quirrel slipped into the night intent in making the best of his profit in the gaming taverns of the town, the high stakes ones he had not had the coin to be able to enter before.

Once out of the rat tunnels the company regrouped in the room with the large pile of rotting vegetation and vegetable waste at its centre. Taking good care as advised not to get too close as the thing was even more obviously heaving, with unseen vermin. The light from the grate far above was almost gone and as they stood and considered what to do it vanished in its entirety. The ceiling was at least ten feet high and could perhaps be reached, this would   require, as they had no gear to do it any other way, the climbing of a pile of stinking rotting matter live with who knew what then the scaling of a shaft perhaps fifteen feet deep and the lifting of a heavy grate which might be secured from underneath with no leverage not going to be easy even if possible. However the discussion was made moot when the surface of the mound erupted with large red worms and Larifus almost jumped out of his skin

Having abandoned any thought of gaining the surface via the grate especially after the appearance of the red worms which so alarmed Larifus, it became necessary to think of another way out especially as it was almost certainly night time outside and the party where growing ever more tired and hungry. Their thoughts turned to the only part of the sewer Siskin had said was lit, or had been when he had explored it before, reasoning that artificial light meant people and that the presence of people down here meant an accessible way out, or so they hoped even if they might have to fight their way past them.

They therefore left the room by the door to the south and made their, as quietly as they could without deliberate stealth, way up the shallow steps to the opening in the wall from which the gnomes in the company at least could see a faint light issuing from. Readying weapons and preparing for a possible fight the company moved up the increasingly well lit passage to a stone room at the end. At a glance the room was live with rats, one of which was the size of the one they had fought before as well as several more smaller but still unnaturally large ones. The rats seemed to be eating a corpse or possibly corpses it was difficult to tell. The largest rat turned its head toward them and RISK began to warm up its dice.