7th Day of the Claw of Winter (February): DAY THREE
The Wererat Lair (21:00 pm):
Sir Ly, knowing he was in a Wererat Lair, at first thinks of rushing through the Secret Door, from which the Wererat had emerged from, but decides not to. Vicross comes too, from the effects of the Yellow Mold’s Spores, and looks through slightly open eyes to see a single Wererat standing in the doorway.
The Paladin then hears Vicross shouting something out.
Vicross: “Sir Ly, here to me.”
Sir Ly: “I’m coming Wizard.”
Sir Ly has to deal with 2 Wererats that had just closed the door to the Embalming Chamber, which he was currently in, before he could go to the aid of the Wizard.
Vicross meanwhile, had stood up and cast ‘Sleep’ at the lone Wererat in the doorway close to him and hoped that his other comrades would within be 30’ feet as it would affect all of them. The Wererat by Vicross one of the other 2 Wererats all fall to the ground and begin to snore. The only one left was hidden from the sight of our 2 Heroes.
Sir Ly kills his Wererat while Vicross keeps a look-out. He then notices a Giant Rat scurry’s past him having exited though some small holes at the base of the Southern Wall by the Alter.
Vicross casts ‘Wizard Lock’ on the doorin the Wererat Lair and the Giant Rat transforms into a Wererat but cannot open the door. He turns and rushes at the Wizard but is blocked by Sir Ly who strikes and kills the creature.
Vicross then advocates to tie-up the last ‘Sleeping’ Wererat and to cast ‘Charm Person’ in order to extract all and any information regarding the Wererat Lair. The Wererat fails verses the ‘Charm Person’ Spell cast by the Wizard and therefore considers Vicross a friend, while he is not too sure about the Wererat Killing Paladin and is wary and watchful of Sir Ly. The Friendly Wererat can speak common and tells the Heroes of:
- Location of the Boss Wererat
- Distance from current location
- Secret Door to this area
- Number of other Wererats
- The Undead (Unseen by him) in the lower Levels
- The way they entered by the blocked large Spiral Stairs
Vicross proposes he changes his appearance to that of a, tallish, Wererat by using a ‘Change Self’ Spell and accompanies his Friendly Wererat all the way to the Boss Wererat’s Location within the Wererat Lair. Sir Ly would follow 30’ feet behind with his ‘Flametonge’ providing a little light and Vicross would be moving his ‘Unseen Server’.
Our Heroes follow the Friendly Wererat through the Wererat Lair, out of the South-West door in the Hexagonal room, out and up a long corridor and they reach a gated, large, rectangular chamber.
A 50’ foot long by 15’ foot wide room, along each wall are a dozen stone sarcophagi, the tops carved with the likeness of a human form. The names of the interred are etched into the base of each sarcophagus along with a short epithets.
Vicross and his Friendly Wererat head north to the Secret Door while Sir Ly hold back a while to look at the sarcophagi for any clues. The Paladin’s Investigation of the carvings reveals scratch marks around the eyes, as if something had removed from each of the lids. Strange things indeed here in the Wererat Lair.
Sir Ly: “Inside the graves are the bones of the lower priests of the church, who had the most interaction with the non-members. They were buried in the upper floor, so as to be easily visited by pilgrims and travellers.”
Vicross crosses a long corridor in the Wererat Lair and is told to keep to the north wall by the Friendly Wererat. Not having mentioned this before Vicross goes back and informs Sir Ly. Vicross heads back and Sir Ly stays back- in the burial area by the Secret door.
Vicross follow behind the Friendly Wererat down the corridor and onto the closed door at the Eastern end. The door opens and behind it Vicross, Magically altered to look like a Wererat, can see a small room and several Wereats too.
The walls of this small chamber are lined with tattered silk tapestries. A wooden throne sits in one corner next to a small table with several drawers. Across from the throne is a small bed with an ornately carved wooden frame. On the throne sits a large Wererat, along with 4 other Were-Rats sitting about the room.
The Friendly Wererat spoke to the Larger Wererat sitting on the wooden throne in a squeaking language unknown to the Wizard. The Wererat Boss is not convinced and orders his Wererats to attack Vicross in Wererat form, the Friendly Wererat does not participate and stays in the room with the Wererat Boss.
CAN’T FULLY REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
A fight ensues and Sir Ly moves up from his position in the Crypt area and narrowly avoids a Pit Trap the he is Dextrous enough to just avoid falling down the 20’ foot pit. The door is closed and Vicross and Sir Ly deal with the Wererats.
CAN’T FULLY REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
The Wererats are all dealt with and dispatched before Vicross and Sir Ly turn their attentions to the Boss Wererat in the Wererat Lair. Vicross, who still had his ‘Unseen Servant’ with him, commands the ethereal entity to open the door and move into the room. There is no attack and so Sir Ly moves into the room first followed by Vicross. Inside they find the Friendly Wererat dead on the floor with a stab mark in his back and a Secret Door open in the South-East corner of the chamber.
Sir Ly moves into the room first and on towards the Secret Door and he is closely followed by Vicross. At this juncture, while Sir Ly is using his ‘Flametongue’ longsword as his light source to look through the Secret Door and Vicross was behind him, that the Boss Wererat emerges from behind the door opened by our Heroes and attempts to cut Vicross the Wererat in two but misses. The Boss Wererat is wielding, what looks like, a Short Sword in appearance. It is, on a closer look by Sir Ly as he engages in Sword-Play, the base of a shattered Sword of which the remaining blade is about 20’ inches long, and the hilt long enough to be held with two hands. Sir Ly again takes several blows from the Boss Wererat, whether from the Sword or Something else. Vicross aids Sir Ly by casting ‘Magic Missile’.
CAN’T FULLY REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
Sir Ly and Vicross decide to investigate the corridor behind the Secret Door in the Wererat Lair first. The corridor heads South to a door which opens onto another corridor running East-West yet has no other doors to be seen or other means of exit.
Vicross & Sir Ly: “Secret Doors.”
First Vicross searches at the Western end and find a Secret Door which leads onto the Hexagonal Room. While at the same time Sir Ly spends it looking for Tracks starting from the door that the entered from, the Paladin finds tracks leading to the Secret Dorr discovered by Vicross and also Tracks heading to the South-East corner of the corridor they were in. Behind this Secret Door Sir Ly finds it emerges into the empty waiting room with stone benches which the entered near the beginning of the complex.
Vicross and Sir Ly search the Boss Wererat’s room and find nothing of value.
Vicross: “We need to collect all the Booty and rest up so I can replenish my Magical Powers.”
Sir Ly: “We will just need to choose a location and I will stand guard while you rest.”
Vicross decides to go about opening and closing the doors within the complex to the way they found them. Sir Ly decides to search for more Tracks by the Last Secret Door, leading to the waiting room, to see if he can work out where the reaming 5 or so Wererat may have gone and he finds that some Wererat footprints lead to another Secret Door in the North East corner of the Waiting Room. Sir Ly waits for Vicross before they open the Secret Door.
As Sir Ly opens the Secret Door he is hit by a Vision of a Snow covered land and the sound of Hoof beats.
Behind the Secret Door is a narrow passage, piled high with iron candelabras, crates of wax candles, chairs, and blankets.
Vicross and Sir Ly systematically search the hidden room’s items using ‘Detect Magic’ cast by Vicross on the items discovered by Sir Ly. Hidden in the back under a crate of candles is an ‘Ebony Chalice/Bowl’ and in one of the blankets a ‘Silver Pendant’. This tiny figurine of a War Horse hangs from a Silver chain.
Vicross: “We need to rest in the Boss Wererats Room and we can take the opportunity to search it too.”
Sir Ly: “Agreed, We shall put the place back as it was by hiding the bodies as best we can and closing the doors. The blood stains could be anything.”
Vicross and Sir Ly open and close the relevant doors and hide the Wererat bodies, killed in the Embalming Room, into the Secret Chamber there. While moving back through the Hexagonal Room Vicross detects the movement of the Giant Spider and makes out what he thinks may be an Egg Sack and so choses to use a ‘Lightning Bolt’ on the area and kills the Mother and all her Children.
Vicross and Sir Ly head back to the Boss Wererat room and Sir Ly remembers that the Pit Trap is still open and goes to investigate further.
There are 2 Pit-Traps in the hallway of the Wererat Lair If not disarmed, there is a 50% chance the Trap Doors will open when stepped on, dropping the character 20’ feet. Inside second Pit-Trap, which Sir Ly is looking down, are the body of a would-be Thief, carrying a ‘Potion of Plant Control’, ‘Potion of Extra-Healing’, ‘Potion of Speed’, ‘Magical Lock-Picks +20%’ as well as a Small Puzzle Box containing 48 Quarts Stones.
Sir Ly: “The Eyes from the Sarcophagi.”
Vicross: “I can’t believe that there is nothing of value in this room. Are you sure we have searched everywhere?”
Sir Ly: “Everywhere but the Throne I’m sitting on I think.”
Vicross and Sir Ly search the Throne and find many hundreds of Coins and a Golden Icon of the God Ilmater.
Vicross: “I shall rest and then, once recovered, I can ‘Detect Magic’ on the Items we have found and then ‘Identify’ their abilities.
Sir Ly: “Agreed and I shall make sure you are safe Wizard.”